The Legend Of Hanahime
by DeathtoDiscord
Summary: After a 10 years slumber, Hinata awakens with no memory or recollection of her past. She finds herself in a strange land, and kept woman to the feared and powerful demon god the Kyuubi no Karama. As she begins to come to terms with the strange, erratic creature that loves her, she also begins to realize that there is more to their story than she could have ever possibly imagined.
1. Awakening

_~*Awakening-_

* * *

_She is…at the bottom of a great well, in a darkness that no light can penetrate. She is slumbering in the depths of a cold sea, in the dark of a deep abyss. She is robbed of conscious thought, of sight and sound. No light, no warmth. She is a being of darkness and twilight, of shadow and emptiness. She thinks of nothing, she is nothing. A spirit of the night. But there is a sound- a faint murmur of sound. Words- there are voices, rising her from below. _

**"_-dy…Hi-"_**

_There is a stirring- a warmth- a feeling- a voice echoing faintly in the dark. There is a call, an echo, a whisper of more. But the darkness is a living, tangible thing- and it has her in a comforting embrace, familiar and needed. She does not know if she desires to leave it, or even if she can. _

**"_-ady…Hina-' _**

_It is herself that rouses her, the remains of her being, a voice as solemn and fleeting as a winter wind. 'Awaken. You must awaken.' There is a murmur, a hesitant whisper in the night- it is herself, echoing in the confines of her mind. It is herself waking, rising slowly- although she knows not what that means. But it is awakening, it is coming together, unwinding. It is her, shifting in the dark, movement groggy and slow. _

**"_My…Lady Hi-"_**

'_Who…?' She thinks carefully, slowly. 'Who…' she thinks again, the very act of conscious thought difficult, painful. But the voices are insistent, strong- she reflects upon them as if from a great distance- but they are growing closer, nearer- louder. _

**"_-Lady Hinata?"_**

'_Who…is calling me?' She thinks, padding quietly into the recesses of the dark. 'Who knows my name?' _

**"_-Come back to us My Lady-"_**

'_But I am not missing. I am not lost.'- she thinks as she creeps toward the dawn, just beginning to illuminate the darkness. 'I am right here.' _

* * *

She slowly came to herself, her vision met with a dream induced haze, her entire body a boneless thing incapable of motion. Her vision is fading- drifting in and out of focus as if her body is contemplating falling back into slumber.

_'No…not yet…'_ she thinks slowly, fighting the fade with a weariness that is only just beginning to make itself known. She is…laying in a bath, body submerged in crystal clear water scented with lavender and jasmine. Flowers float gently on the surface of the pool, beautiful flowers the color of translucent lavender, delicate pinks and sun kissed petals, perfuming the air with a gentle scent. She eyes them tentatively, and the visage of her body, floating pale and forlorn beneath them. Long inky blue-black tendrils drift lazily beneath the waters surface, and it is extended moment before she realizes it is the length of her hair, enshrouding her form from sight.

Groggily she raises a hand before her face, surprised at the smooth unblemished palms and pale manicured hands that she finds. And she realizes she cannot even remember what about the observation is surprising. _'How odd'_ she thinks slowly, head rolling back on the delicate stalk of her neck, surprised at the heavy length of her hair against the back of it. She blinks wearily, owlishly staring up without sight into the leafy canopy overhead, the soft glow of an early morning sun peeking from between the mossy branches and flower laden boughs. Her eyes struggle to stay open, tempted to sink into the warmth, to soak up the gentle rays and be lulled back into a deep slumber from which she would not awaken_.'No...not yet.'_ something within her rises, a coaxing murmur in the back of her mind,_ 'Not yet.'_

But there is a voice, a lowly murmured oath filled with an urgency she does not feel.**_"Hurry and summon the master! Tell him Lady Hinata has awakened!"_**

Her head swims, murmuring faintly with fragmented whispers of thoughts she is incapable of grasping. She closes her eyes, just beginning to come to terms with herself as she lays in the comfort of the warm water. She feels detached, removed from the very body she is in possession of, eyes opening to drift lazily around the perimeter of the pool. She finds that it is surrounded on all sides by an encroachment of small trees, dipping and bending overhead, as if they wish to shield her and this place from a cruel and unforgiving world. She finds her gaze resting on the clusters of those sweet smelling flowers- the color of the sky at sunset, the blue of an ocean of the clearest water, the pink of an early morn. And as if aware of her gaze, she watches idly as a flower detaches itself from overhead, floating down gently. She catches it carefully in her palm, wondering at the softness and warmth of it in her hand. It is the color of a full moon, serene and forlorn in her palm. She holds it carefully, delicately, eyes tracing the length of its smooth petals.

"My Lady."

It is…the voices from the dark, speaking to her- clear and focused, no longer murky whispers. For a moment she contemplates the words, struggling to accept them, her gaze transfixed by the flower in her hand. _'A lady'_, the voice had said. Her eyes tiredly drift to the side of the pool from which the voice had come and she wonders how she has missed the owners of them before.

There are two dark haired women perched there, clothed all in white, their dark heads bowed to the ground in respect. She struggles to form a cohesive thought as she realizes they are waiting, staring at them blankly as they slowly raise their heads at her silence. She is met with matching pairs of the deepest black, eyes as dark as the night between the stars, glimmering like polished stones. They are beautiful she thinks- skin as white as snow, black hair pulled back into elaborately ornate designs. '_They are beautiful_,' she thinks, and yet- she struggles to voice the thought, the whisper that will not leave her. Her lips are moving- but they are devoid of sound, of words.

They eye her delicately, as if they are visibly searching for any manner of flaw. They spare one another a glance with their porcelain eyes, and one proceeds to speak clearly and carefully to her, in a voice without a distinguishable lilt or tone.

"Our humble apologies My Lady Hinata. We had not expected you to awaken so soon, or else this one would have made sure you were properly clothed and prepared."

In unison they bowed again, in apology for this slight, although she is not in a position to accept it nor grasp it. They seem aware of this as well, and rise to eye her carefully as if they have been expecting it.

"You are newly awakened and we humbly ask that you do not waste your energy on ones such as we. Rest assured Lady Hinata, we will take care of you." She states carefully, porcelain eyes conveying this vow with a promise.

They rise gracefully and she is surprised to find that although their faces are clear and unblemished as befitted matured women, their bodies were slight and delicate like children. She is incapable of getting her lethargic body to cooperate with her, and she wonders if they will even be able to manage her weight with such slight frames. They take a position on each side of her, and to her amazement both of them take a step onto the surface of the pool. She stares with wonder as they do not plummet through its serene surface, but stand, balancing delicately on the surface of the crystal clear water as if they weigh no more than the flowers floating around their feet. Stooping gracefully, and without causing so much as a ripple in the pool, their hands gently part the water, gathering her into their arms. Even though the water is warm, sh_e_ shivers at the chill of their skin, like winter frost.

But they raise her from the pool, as delicately as if she is an infant, and as if she too weighs less than nothing. Her head rolls back as they lift her, idly watching the black length of her hair rippling behind her. Seeing but somehow blind her eyes wander listlessly at the beauty of this strange secluded place, and it's strange women children. The pool itself has been painstakingly carved from marble, the lip and rim skillfully inlaid with twisting vines and golden leaves. The bath is small- and yet somehow it had been perfectly proportioned for her- and filled with those beautiful flowers, sprouting along the rim, and hanging into the bath- colors she is just beginning to realize that she recognizes. She is still clutching the flower in her palm, and parts her fingers to allow it to fall into pool below. It is a sight of such peaceful, serene beauty that it would have taken her breath away had she been capable of appreciating it.

The two women gently place her onto a raised dais that has seemed to mysteriously appear of its own accord, in a place where before she had been certain there had been nothing save for the bright green of grass and moss. One delicately holds her upright as she sits, while the other began to gently wipe her bare body down with a warm, fluffy towel. She released a breath she has not known she has been holding, otherwise incapable of the embarrassment that she is certain such an act should inspire. Instead she finds herself staring with blank eyed curiosity at the girl, as she meticulously draws the length of the towel up and down her bare arms, the length of her legs. Although the girl does not once meet her eyes, there is a peculiar thought that nonetheless she is conscious of her gaze.

"My lady Hinata if it pleases you, this one is called Ichi. And that one is called Ni."

_'One...and two?'_ she pondered listlessly with muted interest, wondering at the callous indifference of the parents whom had named them. As if they could not be bothered with even the slightest bit of effort to invest more thought than was absolutely necessary in the process.

She nodded slightly in reply, the only sign of consent she seemed capable of bestowing to the girl. Once she is reasonably dry, Ni holds up the length of her hair while Ichi delicately drapes a silken fabric over her shoulders. It is a pure white robe, made of a luxurious silk that feels magnificent along her skin. She sighs in pleasure at the feel of it, as Ni helps her work her lethargic limbs into its sleeves, she feels her eyes drift closed.

* * *

When she opens them again they are in a white walled bedroom. The entire room is made of gleaming white marble, and she finds herself seated on another low dais, this time before a gleaming panel of mirrors. There is a reflection there- of two foxes, white as snow and the most beautiful woman she has ever seen.

The woman's skin is pale and unblemished, nearly translucent, soft and delicate. There is a long thick mass of hair rippling from the crown of her head, so long that it pools along the floor around her feet. There is a serene, gentle face, framed by dark bangs and long forelocks. The woman's delicate pink lips are partially open, as if she is sighing a gentle breath. Her smooth cheeks are slightly flushed, pale lavender eyes hinged becomingly with thick dark lashes. One of the foxes is gently untangling knots in her dark mane with a golden comb, while the other stands by, perched attentively on its hind legs. There is something brewing there as she watches the figures in the mirror, a murmur of feeling, but it slips between her fingers as soon as it is within her grasp.

"My Lady Hinata"- the standing fox begins, muzzle wiggling delicately as she speaks-"Our master has chosen a garment for your awakening, and hopes it is to your liking." She nodded dumbly as she blinks and turns her head slightly, watching as Ni padded away softly behind them and out of the scope of the mirror's reflection. Ichi continues with the long mane of her hair, swiftly and painlessly braiding pieces into an elaborate design behind her head, allowing the rest of the strands to hang loosely along her back.

She drifts in and out of consciousness beneath the ministrations of those quick cold hands, and comes too finding herself standing before the mirror, a beautiful silk kimono wrapped delicately around her form. It is a shade of silken purple, covered in blooming flowers in shades of pink and lavender, blowing beautifully across the fabric as if by an unknown wind. The sleeves are long- as she stands they fall past her hands, enshrouding them. Ichi takes a step back, observing her with sharp black eyes.

"If you will pardon this one for being forward, you are beautiful Lady Hinata. We are certain master will think so as well."

She stares blankly at the girl, hearing words but still unable to comprehend them. Ni returns with a whisper like the wind, although now she finds she is uncertain if the girl had ever left. Once more without speaking a word they help her back to another dais that had seemed to mysteriously appear in the empty room, a soft lounge chair. They help her lower her body into it, back resting against the arm rest, and she finds herself seated before a massive, ornate door. Ichi and Ni stand, bowing to her once more in fluid unison.

"Master comes. We are but a summon away Lady Hinata. We hope that we unworthy ones have befitted you to your liking."

And as suddenly as the furniture, she blinks and the room is empty save for her. She lies leisurely spread across the soft seat on which they have placed her, groggily trying to come to terms with the grand room, the beautiful clothes, the foxes and the woman in mirror. She is feeling the beginnings of something, some undercurrent of emotion, of thought swimming below the empty planes of her subconscious. Progress is slow- but it is steady.

'_My name…is Hinata…' _she thinks carefully, suddenly, as before, feeling an instinctive desire to look at her hands. Carefully she raises her right, allowing the silk of the kimono to call into the crook of her elbow with a whisper along her skin. She finds her gaze is met with a simple white ribbon hinged with lace, wrapped delicately around her ring finger._ 'Ah…'_ She thinks for a moment, staring at the small white band, feeling something stir in the pit of her memory. She struggles to unhinge the thought, on the tip of her tongue, lost. What…is that on her finger? It feels…familiar. And yet…there is a peculiar dread, building in her chest, a strange anxiety she cannot explain. And there is a strange bitterness on her tongue, sudden and unfounded. It is strong and potent- it tastes like regret…like despair. There is a moment in which she turns and stares, startled at her own shadow against the porcelain floor, as haunting and somber as a spirit haunting a grave. She turns away from the thought with an acute breath, before she can even begin to realize why it frightens her.

_'How odd,'_ She thinks in bewildered wonder, pale eyes roaming around the length of the chamber, beautiful and empty save for the subtle sounds of her breath. Somehow…somehow she is not afraid, although she is certain the need exists, she can feel it there- in the black pit of Ichi and Ni's eyes. She had seen it in the mirror- the strange woman that is herself and yet not herself- and the foxes, white as snow. She has no answers because she has no questions- she only has herself, this strange woman they called Lady, and she cannot on any account remember why.

_'My name is Hinata.'_ She repeats carefully, with something like conviction although it is hollow because she has no validation for the claim. There is only a feeling of familiarity, of comfort in the name, and it is her only indication that this is true. _'My name is Hinata.'_ She repeats again, within, anew, as if will bring with it all of the memories that have vacated her, and all of the words that have left her.

She is not watching the doors when they part, but immediately she catches sight of them as they swing open with ease, as if they are light as feathers and without a sound. And to her utmost surprise, a man flows between them, so gracefully it is as if he has the wind beneath his steps, carrying him across the floor. Something sharp, and poignant cuts through the fade, dismantling the fog so thoroughly that her head rings. She stares, feeling her breath catch in her throat as his eyes find hers.

He is…he is staring at her as if she is a dream he has been dreaming for a very long time- and she struggles to follow the emotions in his eyes. There is a joy that makes his eyes bright as a clear sky- and there is hesitation, despair mixed with longing. He stares at her as if he dare not move, as if he dare not move less even his breath shatter her into pieces and she as well sits, suddenly feeling as if what little strength she has gained has left her.

She stares at him without shame, and there is a sound, a sound like a smothered scream, a whisper in her ears.

'_You are beautiful,' _she thinks, with no small amount of wonder, with a strange awareness. The words come with a clear minded ease, and again- a peculiar dread.

"Do you know who I am?" He whispers delicately, as if he does not want to startle her. She is surprised at the sound of his voice, rugged and weary- it is a voice like a boy's, caught between that strange threshold of adolescence and manhood- but it is filled with a pain she cannot place. It is a voice like the ancients, as if he too has been startled by the sight of his own shadow. A golden mane, she thinks- such beautiful golden hair he has, flowing behind him without restraint, a face framed with unruly golden bangs, so that she wants to smooth them. _'You are beautiful,'_ she thinks again, unable to breathe. The face of a man who has lived a centuries worth of pain, a face of such an acute indescribable charm that she feels words stay on her tongue. _'Smile for me,'_ she thinks suddenly, strangely, _'You always smiled for me.' _

There is the whisper of something cold and- she wonders as she shakily raises a hand to her face, feeling a strange wetness rolling down her cheeks. They are tears. She…she is crying. And they are cold, bitter tears. She looks up at him in wonder, for understanding.

The sight of her tears seem to distress him somehow, and the thought wounds her although she does not understand it. He steps towards her slowly, carefully, as if he is walking on a floor made of porcelain, his steps silent and easy as if he does not want to startle her.

He brings with him an air of languid power as he draws nearer, a feeling she cannot explain- of slumbering strength. He is wearing loose fitting pants, and an open over coat as he if has just risen. It is open, revealing the magnificent plane of his sculpted chest, rippling skin tinged a golden bronze, as if he has bathed in the sun. And she can feel the heat of his skin, coming to overwhelm her so that she wants to withdraw, to hold herself away. He comes to a complete stop, at what seems a world away. An aura- he has an aura that smells of a wild wind blowing across the sea, of a warm sun overhead and a blue sky- it is in his eyes- such clear blue eyes! Such strength, such unabashed and unforgiving strength- a smothered mirth in the depths of the blue, as if he is holding back laughter. But his face is so frozen, so filled with that indescribable pain that it seems as if he has never known the like.

She stares into his eyes as he draws nearer, a clawed hand outstretched as if he wants to wipe her tears away. He stops himself from touching her, and she releases a breath she does not know she has been holding. He repeats the question, and it sounds as if he is on the verge of some collapse, as if he is standing on the edge of a cliff and looking at a treacherous drop below. "Do you…know me?"

She stares into his eyes curiously, wondering why the tears continue to fall without stopping, dampening the fabric of her kimono. She is crying, and yet she feels no sorrow, detached from it, removed. The words echo in her head as she stares up at him, lodging somewhere deep. _"Do you know who I am? Do you know me?"_ So that she wants to repeat them aloud, to give them form, to make them real.

He creeps closer, slowly dropping to his knees before her, so that he can stare into her eyes. Again- she wants to withdraw, to stand back, to maintain a distance that she somehow felt would provide closure. For what? For whom? How close is his face to hers, such an unknown feral beauty that she stares back helplessly, eyes tracing the strange marking on his cheeks, the sorrow in the depths of his eyes. And there is a powerful, wordless passion, a strange helplessness- lurking behind them as they stare up into hers.

"Dearest Hinata, my love, my reason for life," he murmurs quietly, the words torn from him as if they are born of a weakness he laments as much as he adores it. There is an expression on his face of such anguish and torment that she feels her heart squirm uncomfortably in her chest. She is torn between the innate desire to comfort him- and a strange unspoken warning that she dare not. "Do you remember me?"

It is building, it is swelling, it is growing within her- some semblance of a murky past, beyond the black of the abyss. '_Ask yourself',_ she thinks suddenly, powerfully. The spirit haunting her murmurs, the spirit haunting her that is herself and all that she used to be. _'Do I…remember? Who…you are?'_

"You…" she begins quietly with effort, the words a whisper so quiet she wonders if he can hear it. He does- and he holds his breath as if he dares not release it. Those eyes- turbulent blue eyes- framed by the gold of riches and kings. Blue eyes growing as still as a calm pond, but she does not imagine the unrest, the tense feeling of anticipation that predates them. She does not want to disappoint him somehow- she does not want to voice the words aloud, the words that she knows will turn that turbulent blue into a brooding sea.

"W-Who…are you?" she murmurs quietly, with an acute regret she cannot place. She wants to know him- _she wants to know him_, is what she thinks. And the price of watching his face crumble like ashes in a strong wind is enough to make her regret the words despite their truth. But he is quick to catch the remains before she is able to fully understand the desperation in it. But he smiles easily, gently-as if he knew well the folly of hope. But the smile is a frightening thing to her in this moment-it is the smile of a ghost standing over a crumbling grave, a smile of a centuries worth of regret. She thinks that he seems as if he has expected this- and somehow she feels as if he is on the verge of tears because of it.

"I am the one who loves you more than life itself, in this world or the next." He states carefully with such strength that she does not doubt it. She cannot speak, uncertain how to even receive the confession, to even process the words and the latent promise in them.

He reaches slowly for the hand hanging limply in her lap, and she allows it, overwhelmed by a weakness that renders her immobile. She is surprised by the feel of his hand as it holds hers. His hand is large, rough and worn- and she does not imagine the power in them. But it is warm- a warmth like home, as if this is the last of many times, her hand fitting within his so perfectly that they seemed as if they had been created for one another. And slowly- softly- as if it is something precious- he raises it to his lips, and he kisses it as if it is the dearest thing in the whole world.

"Then your wish has been granted…and you can learn to think of me what you like. Hate me as you must. Disregard me, cast me aside- I will bear all of it- if it will ease your pain. I know I'm being selfish, I know I can't possibly believe you will forgive me but I...I don't care. I almost lost you once, a moment too late. I will not- I cannot- lose you again." He murmurs the words lowly, like an oath before an altar, like a vow made in blood.

"I…have been lost?" She murmurs in confusion, thinking of the darkness, of the deep of that black abyss that bore no name. He watches her eyes, and the hand holding her own is filled with a strength she can feel, an anchor holding her to this world as if she is a moment from slipping away. He is holding her hand and looking up at her, beautiful blue eyes begging as if he wants her to stay._ 'But I am…not going anywhere.'_ She thinks suddenly although she knows not know why. _'I am right here.'_

"Yes." He whispers quietly, sadly, leaning a rugged cheek against the back of her palm as if the very touch of her skin is a solace he has been denied far too long. "You have been lost for a very long time."

"H-How…l…l-long?" She asks carefully, the words wondering and distant, as if she is still somewhere else, a thousand miles away.

He smiles up at her gently, his blue eyes deep and unreadable as he answers. "Ten years."

* * *

_Welp here you go folks. This isn't my first fanfic on FF despite the blank profile, I go by a helluva lot of names but I don't really want to be burned at the stake by reviewers waiting on me to update some other shit so I sneak posted this If you can figure out who I am I'll give you a lifetime supply of nothing :,D_

_This was partly inspired by japanese folk tales/legends, the beautiful (if fucking frustrating) manhwa bride of the water god, the helluvamazing naruto universe that allows for such open creativity, and of course the legendary kishimoto-sensei for giving fans the world over plenty of stuff to argue about. _


	2. Old Morning Dawns

_~*Old Morning Dawns-_

* * *

Sleep was a hard, cruel thing, filled with the voices of ghosts and the murmurs of shadows. She dreamed of the return of that bleak darkness, holding her tight to its breast. _'Don't go,' _it murmured in a voice like anguish, _'You must not leave,'_ but when the rays of the early morn awoke her to a birds's song, it no longer held her hand.

* * *

She pulled herself upright as a yawn ripped its way through her chest, smothering the sound with the back of her hand. She was bathed in the warm glow of morning, although she knew not from whence the light came. As consciousness slowly regained its control over her weary mind, the words of the dark seemed a distant memory in the morning light. She could not recall when sleep had claimed her, but somewhere between the words of the blue eyed man and realizing that she felt as if she were drowning, she had felt the tide of unconsciousness come merciless and swift. Vaguely her attempts to recall how she had come to this bed were foggy and unclear. All but..._'Red.'_ She thought carefully, wondering at the surfacing of the color, and why it suddenly seemed so important.

_'All I remember is the red.' _She frowned, staring down with a sightless gaze into her open palms, eyes narrowing in concentration. _'Red...? Why...?' _Her temples began to throb, the tell tale signs of a headache, a swift warning pain that urged her to _'let it be'_. It was a small thing- but it bore with a promise of more, of the mantra that seemed as if it would soon fill the entirety of her waking existence. _'Just let it be, Just let it go. Forget.'_

But there were things that could not be forgotten, things she could not allow herself to forget- _'You are Hinata. You have been sleeping for ten years...and you-' _-And she- was some manner of noble woman, in possession of some birthright that she could neither recall nor claim in good conscience. It seemed almost unfair, to reap the benefits of some lineage, some innate gift of bearing that she could not even voice. But even thinking of confronting it, the bleak, forlorn shadows of a past that time itself had forgotten- was daunting. So that she felt her entire body shudder, as if from a cold wind. _'Just let it be,' _came the mantra, urging her to just forget. It offered her peace if she would just accept that one small fact. Somehow, resigning herself to this fate came easy, and she threw herself into the words with an abandon that felt like relief.

_'Maybe...perhaps it is better if I do not know...if only for now...surely I will find out soon enough? I...I should just be able to bear this. It..is not so bad, not knowing. Whatever the case, it is obvious I have been taken care of, regardless of where I have slumbered. To wonder why...I'_

The words came anew, stronger than before, with a bite more forceful, more pressing. _**'Let it be.'**_

_'Y-Yes. I...I must.' _ She replied, wondering at the fragility and weakness of her person, to be bullied by her own thoughts. She was beginning to get the impression, however small, that she had never been a forceful person in any form. It seemed it would not be so now- yesterday her disorientation and confusion had allowed her to be led and coddled like mindless cattle, but even now, when she was in more control of herself, it seemed as it would be more of the same.

She sighed a gentle murmur of breath, abandoning the depressing note of her thoughts to finally focus her gaze and let her eyes wander around the chamber. The chamber was wide and spacious, the floors paneled and polished to the point that they shone almost painfully- reflecting the visages carved on the ceiling above her. She looked up into the sky with wonder, up into a sky tinged with the pink of daybreak, the beginning of cloud. Dazed from the effort it took to hold back her head, heavy from the length of her hair pulling it back she averted her eyes. With even more amazement they roved around the walls- every inch of them surrounding her had been masterfully painted with striking imagery, so detailed and beautifully colored that she had to blink to assure herself it was real.

There were the sloping curves of mountains, tops bedecked with cloud and capped with snow. There was a rolling landscape of greenery- a forest filled with towering trees, so tall that their murky beginnings seemed lost in shadow. The rays of the sun breaking the horizon, rising to an early morn, to the cacophony of birds of paradise singing from flower laden boughs. The wind, carrying with it stray leaves, the scent of smoke and morning and there- her eyes knew where to look, where to find it- the village hidden among them.

She was overcome with the desire to stand, to run to the spot where she could carefully make out the arches of the gateway, and the beginning of a winding stone path, weaving its way into a narrow road shadowed by the outcropping of stacked buildings. She could see the people walking the path- mothers going to market, a trio of school children laughing as they dashed through the streets. The sound of morning greetings, laughter and smiles shared between them, the raising of hands, waves- and she could _hear it_- the sound of their chatter, the echo of footsteps on stone. But it was when she found the stone mountain, it was when she saw the solemn, grave faces overlooking with village like judgement and sorrow that she felt her body begin to shake. She gasped, struggling to draw breath, all of her strength leaving her as she felt her vision began to burn. Tears- as she doubled over her lap, listening to her chest rattle.

"My Lady? Are you unwell?"

She jumped, startled by the soft greeting, turning her head to find Ichi and Ni standing by her bedside and coolly assessing her. They appeared before her as silently as they had left her, as if blessed with the innate ability to surface and vanish at will. And vaguely, she remembered the bleary sight of the mirror- the woman who was not herself and-_ 'Foxes. White foxes.'_ Unless...that had been only a dream? A figment of her imagination, her weary mind? Regardless, she dared not question them, feeling the words stay in her chest despite how she brewed within. There was a strange desire to know- _'That village...that place...it is...?'-_and one to not know. _'It is nothing...nothing.'_ The peculiar nature of her situation was just beginning to make itself known to her, with the return of her conscious mind and common sensibilities.

Hurriedly she regained her composure, hastily wiping at the tears before those quick black eyes could spot them. She was in their care and she did not want to upset or burden them, these strange women children who were her caretakers. She could not even begin to explain it, the onslaught of some semblance of memory that could not have been hers. It was a moment before she pulled herself together, glad for the long thick curtain of her hair, hiding her face from sight.

"N-No I-I...I j-just- t-this r-room i-is-" She faltered, her gaze clearing as her eyes scoured the painted landscape once more- as if she had to but walk towards it to make it real, to bathe in the glow of morning. As if she had to but take a step through the stone arches, approach the gate- as if the waving villagers had been smiling at _her, _calling _her _name. To her utmost surprise, the village had vanished, swallowed up in the wall of mountains, lost in the stretch of the towering green forest. Confused and startled her eyes roved the wall almost desperately, not understanding. Surely it had been real? Had she imagined it? No, it had been there, she had just seen it for herself! But no matter how she scoured the mountains, she could not find it again.

Realizing the prolonged silence that followed her broken reply, she turned to find and Ichi and Ni eyeing her carefully- as if she herself, was on the verge of breaking. The sight of those gazes eyeing her with what could have been some distant semblance of pity, gave her strength to rein herself in, to push the thought of the village into the dark of her mind. Later- later she would sit by that wall, and trace every gleaming leaf in the towering trees, every overturned root and rock of its depths below until she found it. But for now- _'Do not be a burden.'_

"This was your private chamber My Lady. Master had some hopes that awakening to a familiar sight would comfort you, and perhaps allow you to recover from your earlier spell."

"R-Recover? F-From w-what?" She asked honestly, although words she found, were beginning to prove themselves difficult when not uttered in the sanctuary of her mind. Although she was inclined to believe that a decade's slumber had wreaked some havoc on her body, somehow the way words faltered and stumbled from her lips felt familiar- like a forgotten habit. But it was not a habit that felt like comfort, but like an age old weakness. She did not hear the words in any voice of her own- but a strange tight voice of a man, filled with disgust. _"Weakness." _

Ichi and Ni did not seem to mind the time it took her to unwind her thoughts, patiently waiting as she fumbled and carefully pieced together the broken words. They turned and stared at one another, a thought flickering between those two bright black eyes. It is only a moment, but it is enough. One of them turns- she knows not which- and addresses her, coal black eyes assessing her carefully.

"My Lady Hinata...you fainted."

Somehow the news does not surprise her, although she knows not why. The thought of how quickly she had lost consciousness- that too carried with it a familiar ring. _'It had not been the first,' _she thought with certainty, _'And it will not be the last.' _

"A-Ah...I...I s-see..." She murmured softly, her gaze returning to her hands. perhaps that counted for much. She was weary, drained, spent- in a delicate and easily agitated state. Surely she was not in any position to be in full control of herself or her actions- surely the tears, what had felt like an attack- had been nothing but a reflection of her condition.

"Yes My Lady, and Master brought you here. Master-"

_'The man.'_ She remembered abruptly, struck so strongly to the heart that she almost reeled again, struggling to hold herself together because of it as she felt her face flush and burn. Only now did she begin to feel the return of modestly, of decency that should befit any young woman, however unclear her origin. Surely she could not be blamed for the sudden action with which he had placed himself upon her? Surely the nature of her condition would be taken into account? And as certain as she was of nothing, stripped and devoid of everything, there was one thing she found herself beginning to lament.

"W-What...w-what is his name?" She asked quietly, remembering with acute pain the helpless passion in those wide blue eyes- the anguish in them, and the complete abandon with which his cheek had found the back of her hand. His warmth- and that strange confession. And the words, hovering between them, carrying with them a decade's worth of regret. _"Do you know me? Do you know who I am?" _The blue of the ocean- of bitter tears. The way his lips had found her skin, as if he would pour into it all of the love he had for her. And she could not answer him, could not respond, and the thought alone made her heart squirm uncomfortably in her chest although she knew she could not be blamed. A ten year's sleep- was a long time to be lonely- and she could see the visage of his shadow, that shaggy golden mane bowed over her as she slept the devil's sleep. She had not been able to answer him- and in the heart of his pain she knew lay in the fact that she may never be able too._ 'Poor man.' _She thought honestly, sorrow laced through her form._ 'For that I am sorry.'_

But they answer her dutifully, immediately, the words filled with an air of confidence that could only come from years of repeating the same.

"Our Master is the Lord Kyuubi No Kurama, and may his glory reign forever."

She paused at the words, the title striking her somewhere deep although she could not place them. The Kyuubi...the nine tailed fox? She struggled to search her mind for some remains of telling thought, some surfacing of a legend that she was certain bore that name. Perhaps it was merely a title? Did all lords have such names, one that called to mind legends and folklored? But her hands came up empty, and she was left with nothing, overcome with the need to apologize for her own ignorance.

"I-I'm sorry I-"

She struggled to voice the thought, to convey it. She recognized immediately- although she knew not why- that the very words echoed uncomfortably in her mind."L-Lord...K...Kurama?" She restated with abrupt confusion, finding it hard to place the name with those blue eyes and golden hair. It was so...unfitting. The man had seemed as if he were on the verge of smiling, as if through his pain he wanted to burst into laughter. Somehow- the title was so ominous, so- _'Red.'_ She thought again, with a shudder, _'Red.' _

"I-I d-don't..."

They eye her strangely at the admittance, however broken it had left her. For a moment they say nothing, reading the lines of her small form, hunched over her hands. The tips of her fingers find themselves beneath their unflinching gazes, and slowly she begins to tap them together, anything to avoid their eyes. She wants to say it again, louder, so that they understand, _'I'm sorry,' _but the sorry stays on her tongue.

"Surely you must know this. Did Master not present himself to you My Lady?"

_'I am the one who loves you more than life itself, in this world or the next.' _She felt some semblance of warmth again in her cheeks, her head continuing to swim uncomfortably as she remembered the words and the heat with which he had said them. Golden skin and heat.

"A-Ano...T-T-The B-Blue e-eyed m-man..."

Ichi and Ni stared at one another anew, with perfectly quirked eyebrows, before they turned back to her.

"A Blue eyed man My Lady?"

She hurried to explain, fumbling again over the words in her haste, not understanding the way those dark black eyes were staring at her, as if she were speaking utter nonsense.

"Y-Y-Yes. A m-man with B-Blue E-Eyes c-came." She would not forget them, for as long as she lived- not them nor the feel of the burning kiss.

"My Lady...pardon our rudeness but we know not of this man you speak of. We have never seen a blue-eyed man."

She feels her heart drop, her mouth going dry as her entire body wilts, drained of strength. She leans back against the headboard, overcome by a sudden weakness she cannot explain. "B-But h-he...he-"

"My Lady," they begin again, and this time there_ is_ pity in those black depths. "You are newly awakened, and in such a delicate state that it is not uncommon to distort reality and the realm of dreams. Some weakness of mind and body is to be expected, as proved by My Lady's fainting. Perhaps Master has known this, and refrained from presenting himself to you less he upset My Lady's delicate composition. You must rest for now. We will return to attend to you."

She nodded dumbly as they tucked her back into the feathery soft sheets, her entire body sinking into the white. She did not see them leave- they vanished, as if they had come and gone with the wind._ 'The Blue Eyed man'-_ she thought wordlessly, feeling her chest ache, and she was over come with the sudden need to cry. _'Only a dream.' _A fool's dream. She fell again into sleep, and dreamed of white sand and blue skies, and the ocean lapping at her heels with a sound like laughter.

* * *

She awoke again to Ichi and Ni standing over her and she sat up slowly, wondering at the absence of sunlight. The pink sky above was gone- replaced with the dark of a night without stars. The entire room was bathed in the gloom of twilight and shadow, in darkness. In the dark they seemed to glow faintly, their white robes almost painful to view, beacons in the dark. She stared at them in wonder, pale lavender eyes somewhere far away.

"H-How l-long...h-have I slept?" She whispered, her voice a murmur in the dark. The words had a strange echo in them, as if they were the words murmured in a dream. _'How long have I been lost?'_ She had asked him, knowing nothing of the truth. _'For a very long time.'_ And she almost mouthed the answer, if to no one but herself. _'Ten years.'_

"We hope you have slept well My Lady. You slumbered with the sun and awakened with the moon. Master is concerned and has been inquiring about My Lady's health. He has requested your presence at dinner, should My Lady feel well enough to accept."

More than the concern she felt about the length with which she had slumbered was one far more pressing- she was now to meet the Master of the House. And it would not be the Blue Eyed Man- it would be this...man, the Kyuubi No Kurama. This man, her new lord, the one they called Master- she gulped, feeling the tell tale signs of some manner of attack fill her. Breath becomes hard to draw, to even hold in her quivering chest. She cannot understand it- but it scars her, this strange feeling. The thought alone fills her anew with that peculiar shade of dread and anxiety that had so marked that waking dream of blue eyes. It had been far too poignant- the warmth of his hand- the heat of his kiss- how could it have not been real? _'Stop...it was all...a dream. Only that...'_

She did not believe Ichi and Ni to be capable of deceit- if they said the Blue Eyed Man did not exist, then surely they were right. She had no way of knowing, this place, these women- were all strangers to her. She had no recollection, no memory of anything before them- so she dared not question their judgement, not those sharp black eyes that seemed to miss nothing. After all- she had been sleeping for a very long time- surely long enough- to forget the difference between what was real and what was not. Reality was the feel of those cold hands, quickly undressing her, clothing her in layers of beautifully patterned silk. Reality was practiced hands braiding her hair, the doors of the chamber parting- reality was the sudden realization of a question still not posed.

"T-The both of y-you k-keep speaking of y-your M-Master, and I-I...I...W-W-Who...w-who a-am I t-to y-your Master?"

Surprise is swift in black eyes as they give one another a wordless stare. But there is nothing to prepare her for the words that find her as she thinks once more of blue eyes.

"Why My Lady you are his woman."

* * *

_AN: Well here ya go. I plan to try and crank out a chap a week, especially since they're so short. Hopefully they get longer. I also thank everyone who followed and reviewed, motivation is always nice to hear. Next chapter Hinata is to meet the master of the house, so let's see what happens..._


	3. Surrender

___-Surrender- _

___(If You Can Bear The Pain)_

* * *

They lead her silently down a long dark chamber, her feeble eyesight unable to penetrate the darkness. She finds that for a moment, this thought particularly troubles her- but it is merely another shadow of memory that she cannot recall. She stumbles behind them, always it seemed one step away from tripping over the hem of the beautiful kimono, now certain it had been a gift created with her in mind. The sleeves of the kimono were long, the silk beautifully draped and patterned with the auburn beauty of an autumn sunset. She made a delicate, graceful image with her head bowed and cheeks warm, but in the sleeves she wrung her hands almost painfully, distractedly. Her entire body was shuddering faintly, rattled with the echo of her thoughts. Ichi and Ni seemed to take peculiar note of this- they walked slowly, as if to give her time to reclaim her wits, and her composure.

_'His woman!' _She thought dumbly, struggling to come to terms with the words, murmured with such finality, such truth._ 'I...I am his woman!' _Such a thing! She was..._she was_...again she felt her body tremble, at the expectations, the implications of the words. And what was it that kept women did for their Masters? Her head felt as if it were filled to the brim with uncertainty, assaulted by images that made her feel faint. How was she expected to act, to behave, to present herself? However long she had slept- whether it had been ten years or twenty- her modesty had remained perfectly intact- of that she was certain. Or at least- thinking of it being otherwise could prove dangerous to her already delicate psyche. It was hard enough to come to terms with this woman that she was, stripped of her identity, memory- robbed even of her dreams...but to be a kept woman as well! Even remembering the kiss of the blue eyed man on the back of her hand had made her flush- but to think of more- to have to do more! She followed them at a trembling pace, wanting to prolong the journey if only to give herself time to come to grips with it.

To meet her Lord for the first time...and then to be his woman! She shuddered again, heat flooding her face so that for a moment she felt as if the dark would come for her again, that black curtain of unconsciousness falling over her without warning. She struggled to fight it, to focus on the sight of Ichi before her, the white of her robes glowing faintly in the darkness, the black of her hair and eyes swallowed in the gloom.

She looked like a ghost child, a spirit leading her further into the depths of some darkness from which she would never return. The thought made a cold shiver run down the length of her spine- because that was what it felt like, as if her every step was leading her to an end. Behind her, Ni held the long train of her kimono, their steps silent and swift. Ichi takes many turns, weaving a complicated path that she knew she would not be able to recall- but it helps her clear her mind, focusing on the winding path helping to alleviate some of her anxiety- if only for a moment. She is occupied by the realization that she would never be able to find her way back, or to pick a path through the tall, winding halls.

"Do not fear My Lady," Ichi assured her, as if sensing her discomfort. "Come sunrise we will give you the tour of your estate."

"M-My...e-e-estate?" she murmured aloud in pure disbelief, the very thought alone astounding. All of this- hers? Hers and hers alone? The ceilings were high, the halls wide and the very air of the place was like that of a forgotten tomb- somehow the thought of owning such a place was both humbling and terrifying. Were such grand gifts bestowed to all kept women? She shuddered again, winding her hands in her sleeves as she thought of what they had to do to earn them. There is not time for a reply however, as Ichi suddenly halts.

Her eyes scour the darkness until finally, she finds it- there is a door before her, a massive door as high as the ceiling, towering over her with such foreboding that she as well hurtles to a complete stop. There is light- there is light the color of flame pouring from beneath it, and a scent like brimstone permeates the air. She can taste something bitter in the air, like sulfur. And she stands completely still before it, frozen, listening to the sound of her shuddering breath leave her lungs. Ichi motions for her to enter with a bow, as Ni silently comes by her side to join her.

"Please enter My Lady, our Master awaits. We will see to the dinner arrangements."

She nodded dumbly, gulping loudly, pausing to suck in a deep, ragged breath. She could feel the beginnings of it, redoubling in intensity- her entire body trembled, shaking so violently that her teeth rattled. She found that she could not move a single step.

"My Lady?" Ichi asked her with concern, Ni immediately drawing nearer to her side as if to catch her should she fall- and it seemed as if she would, swaying on her trembling feet- it seemed as if the very world were spinning, as if she were about to buckle, and fall to the floor shaking like a women possessed.

"I-I-I-I...M-My a-apologies I...I c-cannot I-I-" Her teeth are chattering together so violently that she bites her tongue trying to speak, the sharp pain accompanied by the copper taste of her own blood in her mouth. The pain made it real, the pain took this moment from a delusional haze, some self induced nightmare- to a reality she did not want to face.

She is overcome with a fear she cannot begin to possibly explain- it transcends the strange unease that had lurked in the corners of her subconscious since she had opened her eyes. It was a spiraling ball of horror, rooted in her stomach and spreading like a virus through her body. She felt as if something was crushing her, as if some giant fist of hatred and loathing was squeezing the life out of her. As if should she take a single step towards that door she would burst into flames, be scorched alive, and swallowed by that horrific black beast they called death.

Alarmed, cold hands hold her upright, or else she would have fallen beneath her own weight, crippling like a flower in the storm. Ni disappeared before she could fathom it, Ichi pressing against her feverish forehead with a cold hand, whispering words into her ear.

"It will soon pass My Lady. It is your first time being in such a presence in a decade, your spirit is weak. Your chakra will realign itself in a moment if you can but bear it...It is not Master's intention to cause you harm, he controls it as much as he is able but the rest is beyond his means. And now that the moon has risen- You must not fear My Lady... it may seem beyond your strength- but you can bear it."

She tried to take comfort in the words, to allow them to give her the strength it would take to move her forward. She is still trembling violently in the girl's cold grasp, feeling sick to her stomach, as if she is a moment away from emptying the contents of it all over the floor. Fear- if she has never known it she knows it now- it is tight in her shuddering breast, it laces every tremble, echoes in the confines of her mind. It is-

_**'Weakness.' **_She hears again, but it is not the voice of the man again, filled with disgust. It is a voice like a scream in the dark, like the sound of something ripping asunder- there is arrogance- a prelude before pain. Dark and smug._ '__**Such weakness. But therein lies the charm.'**_

She holds her head, grasping it painfully, on the verge of screaming at the dark in her head, feeling her eyes begin to water._ 'I-I'-I-'_ she fumbles, unable to think coherently, the blatant threat lurking in the words robbing her of thought and will. Vaguely she hears a strange rumble, as the doors part- and she is standing, shaking like an imbecile before it, bathed in the glow of fire.

"You must go My Lady." Ishi whispers carefully to her- and even cold hands tremble against her back. "You must not keep him waiting any longer."

She hears the words- she hears them- but she cannot move- does the girl not understand that she dare not move a step? It is as if she is struck blind, deaf- incapable of coherent thought- but the choice is made for her. Something- some strange power she knows not- grabs her, some burning black hand grabs her by the front of her kimono and she is pulled- dragged forward with such force that she stumbles, reeling between the doors. Distraught, confused, a scream on her lips- she turns to Ichi for some parting comfort, some solace, as she is snatched forward with a muffled cry.

Ichi is standing before the great doors as they close, and on her cold, impassive face is a look like pain.

* * *

It is a moment before she is able to gather her scattered wits, and mend the shattered remains of her psyche. She knows she cannot embarrass herself so before her lord- her benefactor- and yet she is so rattled, so shaken by an otherworldly, heart stopping fear that she practically stumbles to her knees, bowing humbly before him even though she knows how she must look. A shivering, shaking mess- some frail wisp of a girl- and the words that leave her are filled with a reminder of that weakness._ 'Speak! You must speak!'_ Even though it feels as if she cannot breathe, even though it feels as if she is being swallowed whole, overwhelmed by some black tide. She is afraid, she is afraid, she is afraid- but the fear has no name, no voice. It is the sound of her, choking on her own breath- it is the sound of her, smothering her screams. He is in here- he is in here, this man- _she can feel him._ But she dared not look, dared not even so much as raise her eyes from the floor. She is before him, bent over- it is n o longer a bow it is a grovel, he body rigid with horror. _'To look is to die.' _She thinks with absolute certainty, the thought cutting through the wall of distress that seemed to be enclosing her.

"G-G-Good E-E-Evening M-M-My L-L-Lord. I-It is- I-I-I h-have come a-as you r-requested I-I-"

She falters, nearly biting her tongue again, feeling her eyes squeeze shut. She cannot see him- _but she can feel him!_ And it is like being smothered beneath the foot of some black beast made of nightmares and darkness, it is like choking, like drowning. She could not remember how to breathe- no- she dared not breathe, nor so much as speak out of turn. He laughs- but it is a sharp sound, like a bite- like the snap of jaws close to her ear so that she jumps, startled, feeling herself beginning to unwind before him. She feels it, as if she is sinking, descending into a state filled with nervous apprehension accompanied with the sound of her heart pounding in her ears.

_**"Calm yourself little bird, the scent of your fear is overpowering. Have they not told you that you are to come to no harm in my presence?"**_

_'His voice'-_ she nods dumbly in reply, so rapidly that her head hurts._ 'Even his voice burns.' _Words like liquid heat, being poured into her ears- he almost purrs them. Were the words supposed to be a comfort? She can find none in them- not when he speaks them as if the thought of her fear- and how it paralyzed her- gave him the utmost pleasure. The voice is smooth and dark- put it pierces the room as if it is a ragged blade, both everywhere and nowhere. There is an arrogance lurking beneath the words- it is the voice of a man aware of his own power. And what a power it must be- she thinks with another powerful tremor- to cripple her so!

"-I-I-I h-humbly a-a-ask y-your f-forgiveness, m-my L-Lord." She stumbles out, eyes still squeezed shut. But even the dark behind her eyelids gives her no solace, no measure of ease- his voice cuts through it as if it is nothing but mist and fog.

_**"Do not prostrate yourself before me."**_ He suddenly snapped harshly, as if he had finally realized that she was doing just that, a groveling mess breaking on the floor before him. _**"I ask that only of my servants and lesser beings. You are neither. Raise your head so that I may look at you.'**_

_'You are his woman.' _The thought makes her raise her head quickly, eyes sill latched onto the floor as she trembled from head to foot. Within the confines of her sleeves her hands wrung themselves unmercifully, tangling the delicate length of them. She is nearly blinded by fear, her vision so hazy and murky from unshed tears that she cannot see, and it seemed to her the entire room was a pit filled with fire and shadows that seemed to be laughing at her. She dares not look at him- _she cannot_- she is barely strong enough for words- but not strong enough for that. What would her gaze find, at the other end of that voice like a nightmare? That thought alone makes this terror seem like nothing- she is certain that the form her eyes would find would be beyond human comprehension, beyond her ability to bear it. No- she is not strong enough for that, already bowing before the might of his words- but to meet his eyes?

She can feel his gaze, burning a trail up and down her form with such scrutiny that she feels naked. Her head begins to swim painfully- she is a step away from unconsciousness, from the void- but she dares not- she dares not faint in his presence. To do so she is certain would result in some horrific fate, some vile end. _'Strong...you must be strong-' _But she feels so weak, so helpless, marked by a crippling and paralyzing terror that she cannot name. So she fights against her own weakness, the effort of her inner struggle to overcome making her face pale, her gaze unfocused.

_**"I can still hear your heart pounding."**_ He states abruptly, as if only to see what she would say.

"Y-Yes! I-I am s-sorry!" She nearly gasps the words. And if she could have, she would have snatched the traitorous thing from her chest and dashed it to the ground, so frightened was she of gaining his disapproval or any of his contempt. Her admittance seems to please him somehow- the horrific pressure that seems to be crushing her alleviates somewhat, and she nearly collapses from relief. Her entire body feels as if it is crippled with exertion, so that she feels as if she is burning in her kimono, sweat on her brow.

_**"Ten years."** _He states aloud, distractedly, as if only to remind himself- _**"Ten years you have slept the sleep of the dead. And I suppose you remember nothing?"**_

In the wake of his presence, stifling her, it seemed as if in that moment she was incapable of remembering anything, struggling to comb through the undercurrent of her turbulent thoughts to focus on the reality. What did she know? She was Hinata- Ichi and Ni had called her Lady Hinata- that was her name. The man before her had confirmed it for her himself- a decade's worth of slumber- _and..._but she hurried to bury blue eyes before her heart betrayed her. That memory- that dream-had no place here. Not in this pit that felt like hell, groveling before a man with a voice like death.

"T-T-That i-is correct M-My L-Lord. I...I-I h-have f-forgotten all b-but my n-name."

_**"Then surely you are satisfied?"**_ he murmured darkly- and she was certain that if she had seen his face in this moment- his smile would scorch her like a scar.

**_"This was what you wanted, what you begged of me- are you not pleased?"_** He asked her again, pointedly, and his gaze- she swallowed- she could feel it, burning her.

She nearly looked up at the words, that surreal dream resurfacing, between the realm of truth and subconscious-'_"Then your wish has been granted-"_ but she snapped her head back down to the floor. How had it taken her so long to remember? It was only now that she finally realized the implication of those words- but how could she have known? How does one put faith in a dream? But the words of her Lord bring with them a truth that she has neither the strength nor the courage to face. And with them something heavy sinks in her chest- as if she has swallowed the world.

_'I...I asked for this...? I wanted this? But...why? What...what did I want to forget?'_ No- she cannot think of it- she is already weak, collapsing beneath the weight of this man whose face she cannot know. To be crippled by that burden- but there is no time to ponder on the words, the oppressive silence of his wavering patience reminding her that she had more to answer to than simply herself. She is uncertain what to say to such a cruel, mocking question- surely he knew her condition better than she did herself. So how could she be pleased? How could she have wanted this? How could she have begged for this? But she answers honestly, far too frightened of him to resort to deceit...and somehow knowing that he would know if she did.

"I...I d-do n-not know M-My Lord..."

_**"Good."**_ he interrupts her suddenly, so that she stumbles over the remainder of the words on her tongue, as if they have been snatched from her.

_**"All of that is behind you- the girl you once were has died in this moment. The past is no longer your concern. You need look no farther than me...and I suppose you know who I am little bird? You know who is master here?"**_

She is so stunned for a moment that she cannot speak- to say such things!- but there is no time to agonize over the words, no time to wonder just what he meant by those words.

"Y-Y-Yes m-m-my L-L-Lord." '_They called him the Lord Kyuubi no Kurama...'_ The very title carrying with it the murmur of a legend, the echo of a tale she was not sure she wanted to know. But again, somehow she realizes that he seems pleased with her ready admittance to his queries, as she can feel the mood lightening, allowing her to draw in a much needed breath. But it is only a moment, a brief prelude.

_**"Then know this. My word is absolute law within this realm. I am not to be disobeyed. In return for your obedience you will have everything that is within my power to bestow. You will never want for anything, you have only to ask and it will be given to you."**_

She is nearly struck dumb by this admission- so many questions lodged in her throat- what had she done to deserve such honor? What had she done to be worthy of such gifts? But none of them make it past her lips. _'Who am I to you?' _She wants to beg, even though it makes no sense- she knows what she is to this man- she is his. Why does she want to ask, to hear it aloud? But she cannot do it- there is a faded horror running through her mind- a cold terror like pain. Are her eyes open? Are they closed? Is she blind? She cannot see- and she sees nothing but shadows, dancing across the floor.

"M-M-My Lord...i-is t-too kind..."

He laughs again at this- but this time it is a hollow, empty sound. She jumps again, startled by the sheer intensity of it, raw and unfounded. It is a sound that renews that feeling, doubles the strange waking terror that has entrapped her- her hands are white in her sleeves. It is a mocking sound- whether it is laughing at her naivety, her fear or both- she knows not. _'I don't want to know.' _Acutely- she realizes that if her legs had the strength to support her in this moment- she would have willingly fled into the shadows, into a bottomless abyss- anything!- to get away from that horrific sound.

_**'Kind!' **_The dark in her ear mocks her, repeating the word with a cruel jest, as if it is laughable, pitiable. _**"The little bird thinks you are kind!' **__T_he echo of it is painful, so that she flinches, a hand shakily raised as if she wants to block it out, to keep it away. But like a foul cloud of malevolence, of evil and silence it hovers there, covering her in its shadow, skulking around her form like a vulture on a corpse. Only his words make it leave, driving the voice back into the darkness.

_**"Don't. Thinking I am kind is a mistake you can never allow yourself to make. There is a price for my...'kindness.'"**_

He says it mockingly, mirroring the dark in her ear, as if he wants to laugh again. She is uncertain what to say- there is nothing to say. She...does not know if he tells her this in confidence, in jest, or in earnest. He admits it like it is a lesson she must learn- like a necessity, an unspoken law. She knows it is those words in particular that will haunt her this night as she lays, caught in a restless slumber. _'There is always a price.' _No longer mere words- a warning.

_**"There are but three rules you are to follow."**_

_'Listen well. Do not forget. Your life...may depend on it.' _Are those her thoughts, murmuring to her with a whisper like silence? Or is that another? She cannot focus on anything but the sound of him, echoing around her, beyond her ability to deny.

_**"You are to come when I summon you and not a moment before- do not attempt to seek me, I shall find you. While the sun is high in the sky you may travel anywhere within this realm so long as you are accompanied by your servants, and return by sunrise. And you must not, on any account, leave this realm."**_

_'Don't go- You must not leave-' _The anguish of a shadow that knows no name- she wants to scream at him, scream at herself- she wants to run into the dark- she wants to-

-But that voice grows darker still- grim- he is growling the words at her with a warning of pain so intense she would not be able to survive it. And she feels it return without warning, robbing her of breath and what little comfort she has gained in his presence- that black hand grabbing her by her neck. She gasps aloud at the feeling, surrendering to that strength with helpless abandon, rattled anew by that fear. It is holding her, shaking her, holding her tight as if he would crush her in a moment should she give anything but her consent. She cannot breathe, she cannot think- but his words find her in that bleak grasp, words filled with such conviction that she feels as if her heart is going to burst in her chest.

_**"Do you hear me little bird? If you ever attempt to leave I will snap you up in my jaws and grind your bones to dust. And anyone who assists you- I will have roasted alive. Do you understand me?"** _he grounds out with a snap of his fangs-everywhere and nowhere-but so close to her ear that she nearly faints, the words filled with such threat and promise that her vision grows black.

"Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Yes!" She nearly screamed, so frightened now that she started to cry, growing more and more wretched by the moment. And if she had chosen this moment, this very moment to see through her tears- she would have seen those red pits burning in the darkness, red pits leading straight to hell.

_**"Then farewell my 'darling' Hanahime."** _There is a smirk in his voice, an arrogant smirk._ **"The servants will see to you."**_

And he- like a shadow, like a dark, vengeful spirit- had vanished by the time she next drew breath.

* * *

She sunk into the ground in pure relief as he took with him that black hand, that horrific pressure, that fear. '_Such a man!'_ She thought, her entire body shaking, trembling to the point that she was hyperventilating, drawing in ragged gasps for air. As if she had been smothered, swallowed by a darkness filled with hatred and spite, the feel of his contempt choking the very life in her body, robbing her of strength. _'Such a man!'_ She thought with horror, with a fear so overpowering that she could hardly stomach it, feeling everything within her reel away at the thought of being pinned once more beneath that gaze. A gaze that felt like hell fire, like brimstone- the flash of porcelain fangs- a promise to gobble her up and grind her bones to dust. Stated like it would almost be a pleasure, as if it would bring him nothing but pleasure, her blood on his tongue. She felt sick.

It was a long moment before she had finally gathered enough strength to rise, and is able to lift her weary eyes from the floor. She finds that this is another dark room with a high ceiling, and it is wide, grand- it no doubt served its purpose of being some manner of audience room. It is illuminated by the glow of candlelight, a few dark, ornate candelabras placed along the long black table in its center. And there are large fireplaces along it's walls lit with fire, laughing flames. So that the entire room is filled with shadows and dark forms, racing along its walls, howling from the ceiling. Along the walls are massive windows, high and peaked at the top, but the curtains drawn over them hide the world from her sight. And her gaze drifts down the length of the table- to the ornate throne at its end. It was a large dark chair, seated on an elevated platform, so that those callous eyes could stare at everyone in turn seated at the table. She cannot see it clearly- but in the candlelight the fire's shadows seem to dance malevolently around it, a mocking dance of power.

She shivered- it was as if his presence lingered there, like some foul black cloud in the room- and she could feel that was where he had lounged as he watched her grovel.

_'Such a man!' _She hurried to seat herself on the other end of the table, not even daring to sit in front of that throne, still cowering in her seat. She wiped the sweat from her brow with a silken sleeve, listening to her heart's rhythm slow as she regained her control of it. As she slowly regained some possession of herself, she found her entire body felt weak, spent, as if she had just climbed a mountain or overcome some taxing trial. If before she had any doubts that she was a woman in a strange land- this confirmed it. The women she vaguely remembered, white foxes- the strange title of her master- that ungodly power, of such unbridled might that it spoke of nothing but cruelty...no, she did not belong, she could not belong._ 'Little bird.' _That dark voice purred in her ear,_ 'My darling Hanahime.'_

_'Flower Princess...' _she thought carefully, unsure how to even begin to process that agonizing meeting, and not even daring to begin. He had called her 'Little bird' as if he were mocking her fear, the way her heart, her body, fluttered and trembled before him. He could hear her heart pounding- he had heard it from across the room- and he could smell the scent of her fear. No surely- surely no human being was capable of such-then what did that make her, the woman who had slept for ten years? Even Ichi had confirmed it- a decade- and in all that time- had she not aged? Had she only slept? Why...? Why had he kept her alive? Why had he not tossed her to the side rather than bear the burden of watching over her as she slept? If he was so powerful, if she was so weak, if she had begged for this-_**"Such weakness."** _She remembered the dark in her ear._ **"But therein lies the charm."**_

Her head was beginning to ring sharply, painfully-_"I am the one who loves you more than life itself, in this world or the next." _the tender words, juxtaposed with that callous dismissal._** "Farewell Hanahime."** _Smugly, mockingly- as if all her secrets were spread out before him, as if the truth were all within her reach._ 'He knows.' _She realized, but the realization filled her with nothing but dread._ 'He knows who I am. He knows...me.'_

Little bird, Hinata, Hanahime- all one in the same? All different parts of the same woman that was herself? And what...was she?

_'I want to know...I need to know.' s_he thought earnestly, still trembling from the meeting with the man who felt like death._ 'If I must bear this- if I must bear him-I need to know.' _She does not hear the mantra this time- to let it go- but there is a sharp bark of laughter, ringing in her head. _**'Can you bear it then, little bird? With the way your heart trembles? Can you bear it?' **__S_he sits there, stunned into silence at the words ringing in her mind again in that voice like darkness, but she does not have an answer.

* * *

_AN: Another chap for the week, got quite a few followers and favorites but it would be nice to get a little feedback too, I like to know how I'm doing. Tormenting Hinata seems to bring me odd pleasure, so I expect it will become a habit. Hmm what's going on here I wonder? Our dear lord kyuubi seems to be quite the strange character. I look forward to reading your reviews and stuff...if any body even sends me any ;_; I'm not crying just...got something in my eye is all..._


	4. Isolation

_-*Isolation:_

_The World You Left Behind_

* * *

_Sleep is sudden, swift. She thinks she dreams of that darkness, if she dreams at all._

* * *

She opens her eyes to black- it is their eyes trained onto her own, awaiting her awakening. For a moment- how eerily similar it seemed to her, mirroring that time when their words had called her from the darkness. She sat up slowly with a smothered yawn, rubbing at her eyes sleepily with the back of her hand.

"We trust our Lady Hinata is well this morning."

They greeted her with their customary bow, and she paused at the words, considering them carefully. Questions from a sleepless night are rising to the surface- the _'Who am I?'_ and_ 'Where am I?'_ becoming something far more profound-_ 'What...am I? If I am anything at all?'_ Surely this was some place beyond human comprehension or understanding, where animals walked in the flesh of men. She could not decide if a ten year's slumber had rendered her incapable of rational thought or if she had never been capable of much. Somehow understanding this woman that was herself was proving difficult- how could she understand a woman she did not know? But all of that rose and fell beneath their watchful gazes, and she hurried to reply in kind.

"Y-Y-Yes...t-thank you. A-And I c-cannot t-thank you e-enough for l-last night."

After her horrific meeting with her Lord, dinner had been a somber affair. It had truly been a shame- to be unable to appreciate such delight- such bounty they had brought her! Such strange and exotic food! Trays upon trays they had brought out for her, so that for a moment she had checked them, assuring them it was all too much- until she had broken her chopsticks and taken the first bite. Even now she could recall the way the flavors had burst on her tongue, such magnificence- and to her utter embarrassment what followed was a complete breach of good table etiquette. As if a decade's worth of hunger suddenly struck her in one moment, she feasted on the food like a starving man. Although she had sincerely apologized for her behavior, they had assured her that it was to be expected...after all, she had been denied much for a very long time. Afterwards they had led her back to her chamber, where she had fallen immediately into a deep sleep. She did not remember if she had dreamed- and she was glad for it. It certainly would have been a nightmare, filled with flame and laughter.

"My Lady is too kind." They stated in the same matter of fact tone she was growing familiar with, "We are merely fulfilling our duty."

"R-Regardless...t-thank you. F-For everything. " She murmured honestly, smiling at the confused look they spared one another. She was slowly gathering, from studying the surprise in those normally impassive faces that they were not used to such treatment. Somehow, recalling the Master...she knew why. _'Ichi and Ni,_' she thought carefully, remembering her earlier thoughts about the strange women children._ 'One and Two.'_ As if their mother had named them with blatant disinterest...but she understood now, remembering that laughter. She shivered, waving it away.

She stares at them as they await her orders, uncertain how to even begin articulating the thoughts swirling in her mind. For clarity, for comfort she finds her gaze drawing upwards to the opening overhead, shaped like the moon. The colors of an early morning sky greets her, clearing her mind. Formulating the chaos of her thoughts proves challenging, but she knows that if she has the strength for nothing else this day, she must have the strength for this. There are many things she wants to know, has to know before passing through those doors- before accepting...this._ 'How have I come to be here? How has he come to know me? What is that...voice I hear, ringing in my head? Is that me? Or is it...something else?'_ But she fumbles over all of them instead, remembering his words. _**'**__**You will never want for anything, you have only to ask and it will be given to you...There are but three rules you must follow..."'**_**  
**

Now she knew with absolute certainty why he had refrained from presenting himself to her upon her awakening- to even think of it, to be faced with that immense pressure, that wordless horror, while still trapped in that hazy and dreamlike state- the very thought made a shudder race down her spine. She surely...would not have been able to survive it...had that been a kindness? No- she remembered again with a brief tremor, the dark laughing in her head. _'**Kind! The little bird thinks you are kind!' **_Had it been a mercy? No.._.**"Disobey me and I will snap you up in my jaws and grind your bones to dust-" **_Another shudder of horror. To sleep ten years and awaken to meet such a gruesome fate, such a cruel end? Then why keep her at all if she was so disposable, if she was so easy to cast aside? Why...keep her at all? She did not...could not...understand. There was still too much she did not know. And for the sake of her sanity, her seemingly fragile psyche- she knew the only option available to her was to bide her time, in the hopes that with time, surely...one day she would know. But for now, all she could think for a moment was that he had not..._'...been the Blue-Eyed Man...'_

She drew in a calming breath, attempting to center herself and regain some control of her wayward thoughts. By the time she lowered her eyes again to the matching pairs of Ichi and Ni, she knew what it was she needed to ask.

"H-He-" -she checked herself for this slight immediately-"L-Lord Kyuubi...I...w-what manner of b-being is he?" Because she would not forget it- such a blatant display of power, of might- that black hand dragging her forward. That pressure- such suffocating pressure, as if she were drowning at the bottom of a black ocean- and that voice- that voice!_ 'No_-' she shuddered, trying to wave it away, feeling her temples begin to ache, trembling as if struck by a sudden chill. She...already knew the answer to that, to both of those questions- she just needed confirmation, validation, even though she knew. Weakness- she would always remember her weakness, his power had burned it into her memory. _The feeling-_butthey are staring at her with those strange black eyes, dark like coal.

"Does My Lady truly not know? Surely you felt him?" _Who is asking her, who is speaking?_ "My Lady...you know the answer. You must only accept it." _No she- she did not, could not_- pale eyes fall to her hands, trembling in her lap- they are white as snow- smooth- she realizes with acute horror that they are not her hands- _what...what is she thinking? What does she mean by that?_ "My Lady Hinata?" But he called her Hanahime, little bird- "My Lady-?" He called her_ 'dearest'_, his_ 'reason for life'_ he said- "My Lady Hinata-?" They sound away, far away- he said _'I am the one who loves you, in this life or the next'_ and he- _'always smiled for me,'_ there are tears running down her cheeks. _'He always smiled for me.'_

"My Lady Hinata!" Suddenly their voices are clear again, focused. She blinks harshly, hastily wiping away her tears. They are staring at her- and this time she knows Ichi, she recognizes her- because again there is a look in her eyes- that same strange look from last night, tight and painful.

"H-He's a demon." She murmurs softly, not sure if she is speaking to them any longer, or if she is saying the words for herself, to herself. Saying them made them real, articulating the feeling- that dark, waking nightmare. Ichi says nothing- but when Ni turns to assess her twin that look in her eyes is gone- it is a moment- before she speaks.

"The term is a little inaccurate but...That is correct My Lady. Our Master is the Kyuubi, the nine tailed fox. A being of unparalleled power. And My Lady is-" **_'Weak.'_** She could feel the smirk, the black grin made of fangs. _**'But therein lies the charm.'**_ "-Mortal."

"A-And the t-two of you are-" White foxes in the mirror, white as snow?

"We are merely his servants, an extension of his will." Ichi states calmly, her face clear, voice passive and level. "And now we are My Lady's to carry out your will."

An extension of his will- said as if- they themselves had no will of their own. No freedom.

"I-Is he...a c-cruel Master?"

Her eyes find Ichi's, staring back at her impassively, but it is Ni who answers her. "He does what he must My Lady. My Lady will surely come to understand this- there are times where you may think him cruel, you may think him unmerciful- but this realm is different from the world of mortals. And My Lady must not forget that. This is a realm of illusions, ruled by strength and tempered by fate- regardless of what My Lady may come to think, we are certain everything Master does is for your sake."

She feels her gaze tighten as she stares at her hands. _'For my sake?'_ How could she be expected to believe those words, to put in faith in them? Such an action- was it not foolish? Was it naive? If that were true then...the reality was that she had no choice but to believe them- what other options did she have? Who else could she believe in, have faith in? There were none. "C-Can I...t-trust the both of you?"

"My Lady we are incapable of deceit, Master has made it so. We can neither refuse you nor betray you."

"T-Thank you." She whispered quietly in earnest-still not knowing if she should- or could take comfort in the words. But Ichi said them with such conviction, that she felt could not refuse it.

"Now come My Lady- we have drawn a bath for you in the inner chamber. Today we will show you your estate."

She nodded silently, drawing the sheets from her body with a still trembling hand._ 'I just hope...I am not wrong. There is much...I still do not know. Or maybe it is there I only have too...' **"Can you bear it?"**_ _'No...'_ she thought with a weary finality._ 'As I am now...I cannot. But one day...someday...I will.'_ It would be while she mediated in the scented bath that she would first realize that perhaps acknowledging one's weakness was the first step towards strength.

And why...had she been so struck by her hands? She remembered it now- there had been a thin white ribbon, a thread, hinged with lace, wrapped around her ring finger- but it was...gone. Perhaps that too- had only been a dream.

* * *

The estate, when viewed in the glow of morning had a much different air- even the silence of the empty halls seemed hesitant, a strange trepidation lingering in the air and down the elongated passageways. As if for as much as she was wary of this place- of the marble halls, of the high arches and ceilings- it was just as wary of her. The estate is impossibly large- she can feel the size, the weight of it- but even the pristine marble gleaming below her feet feels ancient, weary. Some of the halls, the ceilings- tell a story she cannot follow- a tale of men and the gods that ruled them. There are fantastic creatures beautifully detailed in the walls, a tale she does not know. There is a dragon racing through the clouds, it's long serpentine body sprawling across many feet, winding up the base of a stone column, leering down at her with eyes like envy- there is a phoenix with wings of fire, flying overhead and leaving a trail of smoke and flame- there is a horse with folded wings, dashing through a forest, disappearing down the length of the hall- and more she cannot place nor name.

"W-What...are all of t-these creatures?" She wondered curiously, pausing to run pale hands along the length of a winged serpent, devouring its own tail. She feels them draw to a stop behind her, their eyes following the path her hand makes, fingertips delicately tracing the rough stone scales of the serpent's skin.

"Mythical beings, My Lady. We believe it is common knowledge in the world of the mortals that a ten tailed beast created their world- however it is common knowledge among our kind that a ten winged beast created ours."

_'Our kind,'_ she notes significantly, hands feeling the bite of the serpent's fangs. _'Not mine.'_

"C-Can...you tell me more?" She asked curiously, taking a few slow steps forward, eyes still tracing the figures etched into the wall- here there seemed to be a war that spanned many panels-centuries?- there, a time of peace and prosperity. It truly did feel as if- the stories being told here were as old as time. As she drifted further down the hall she listened to their words carefully, with noted interest.

"It is a long story My Lady. Centuries and eons before your time and ours, these two creatures combined their power to create the worlds. The realm of mortals, the underworld, and the realm of ascension- the realm of the gods. For centuries mankind flourished and blossomed beneath their power- and they taught mankind about chakra, the essence of life. However one day, Ten Tails was suddenly struck by a powerful madness."

She paused at this, hands straying on the marble. There is a figure beneath her hand- of a single man in the dark shadow of a formless beast. "A madness?" She asked aloud, thinking acutely of his laughter, echoing in that dark room.

"Yes My Lady...it is the curse of our kind. With immortality and power often comes a strange affliction which leads to a frightening madness. Ten Tails began to spite mankind, and in its madness sought to the end the world. He fought the ten winged beast- and the outcome of that battle, which raged for years- was that ten wings was defeated, its wings scattered across the skies. Now with no one to contain its might, the ten tailed beast sought to end the world and send it into darkness."

"...h-how did the world survive?" She turned back towards them anxiously, hands leaving the figure to give them her full attention, uncertain how the story was going to end.

"There arose a certain man in the mortal realm, a being born once in a thousand years-who was powerful enough to capture the ten tailed beast. Using his own unprecedented power, and a technique he had developed himself, he split the ten tailed beast by its tails and sealed them away in the world. Thus scattered, peace returned, and mankind regained control of their own fate. The mythical beasts faded away into the undercurrent of history, and mortal legend- there is more to their story here on these walls should My Lady desire to know."

_'The curse of immortality...'_ the words whispered painfully, mournfully in her head. Did she...know this story? No...she did not...this was a story she was certain none of flesh and blood had ever been told. And it seemed like such a...sad story, to be granted an eternity...only to fall prey to madness. Even immortal beings it seemed, were not infallible.

"T-Then this r-realm...belongs to t-these mythical b-beings?" She asked hesitantly for clarification, and was rewarded by a slight bow of their heads.

"Yes that is correct My Lady."

"This is a realm for those with power that could not be contained in yours- or rather it is safer to say that here reside beings condemned- because combined they have the power to alter the fate of the world and change the tide of destiny. Since that time all those millennia ago, it was foreseen that never again would the fate of mankind be given to the hands of beasts. Since then mankind has taken control of its own history and fate- and these beasts have a duty to maintain that balance, to ensure the future of all realms."

"I see." She murmured quietly, the story a sobering tale of power. Had it been worth it in the end...if such gift came with such burden?

"W-What happened to the ten w-winged creatures?"

"They gathered in this realm my lady, and here they have remained, sworn to never again descend to the world."

"And...the t-ten tailed creatures?"

"Still sealed away on the earth. Their fates...are unknown to us. But our Master-"

A wordless conviction she could feel, without proof or merit. They did not need to finish the statement- she already knew how it would end. _'He knows.'_ "Y-You...say that L-Lord Kurama is the nine t-tailed fox. I-if...that is true, then h-how did Lord Kurama e-escape that f-fate?"

She watches their eyes- for even sign of moment, of hesitancy. If they are aware of the intensity of her scrutiny, they do not show it, faces empty as the void. "That My Lady...we do not know. We are..."-did she imagine the strange flicker in black eyes? "-forbidden from desiring or speaking of it."

"W-Why?"

She asked pointedly, lavender eyes not once fleeing from their faces. They grow…hesitant at this. For the first time she can recall, they do not meet her eyes. "We...cannot say." Are they lying? No- they had already admitted that they could not refuse her, and could not deceive her. That could only mean their words were true- they truly...did not know._ 'There is much he is hiding…'_ she thought, mulling carefully over the words. It seemed the man kept many secrets, and not just from her.

"Ah...I s-see."

"Come My Lady, let us proceed to the outside."

They guide her towards an open archway that leads out into the bright of the morning, but she finds her eyes wandering along the wall a moment longer. She finds that her gaze is assaulted by the sight of a creature- a massive beast of darkness and shadow, breathing fire onto a burning village. The beast has breathe of black and flame, and the ground beneath its feet seems to tremble from its rage. She shudders suddenly at the image, but she does not know what about it is unsettling. For a moment she imagines she can smell the scent of ashes- but it is only a moment before the wind reaches her, carrying the scent away.

* * *

Outside the estate is like a dream- beyond the archway they descend down stone steps overshadowed by the arch of trees bent overhead- she recognizes them immediately, their heavy branches in full bloom, petals of pink raining down on the steps, alighting in her hair- she catches one in her palm.

"C-Cherry blossoms...t-these are...cherry blossoms." She states clearly, with no small amount of wonder. She remembered these...she thought looking up through their curved branches, catching glimpses of the sky overhead, wanting to close her eyes as she listened to the wind, softly carrying the petals hither and there. "These are..." she whispered, clutching the petal in her hand, and it feels like silk in her palm.

"You loved these My Lady."

"Y-Yes...I did." She murmured anew, slowly parting her eyes- somehow, she was overcome by a sudden ache in her chest. She tastes it again, on her tongue, something old and forgotten. Is it regret? Bitterness? Or...sadness?

They lead her down the stone steps and she treads carefully as Ni is not far behind, carrying the train of her kimono and mirroring her steps so that she would not falter. At the base of the stone steps- is a garden- she is en swamped, surrounded by a thousand blooming flowers- sprouting from the moss and grass beneath her feet- winding up the bark of the trees overhead- on leafy boughs shadowing the path, petals all the colors of the rainbow floating down on the wind, coating the path beneath her feet. The air is heavy with the scent of their perfume is a pleasant scent of earth and beauty. It is a comfort- she breathes deeply, filling her lungs with the intoxicating scent- and immediately she feels calmer. Hearing the sound of the wind in the leaves, whistling through her ears- brings her peace. Whatever it is that has been plaguing her- seems as if it too has been taken by the wind. What had she been feeling, merely a moment ago? She can no longer recall...the wind has blown a long lock of the inky dark strands across her face- she moves it shyly, smoothing her bangs with a stray hand. Something- there is a murmur of something-

"Come My Lady- we will show you the end."

She is in a daze she feels- a strange hazy contentment, a groundless peace making her calm. She nods her consent and follows Ichi through the garden, her steps silent on the petal laden path- flowers whisper against her kimono as she passes by, as if they would tell her a secret- and the wind in the trees sounds like the laughter of children. Large plants with glossy green leaves as large as her body fan the path, blocking and shadowing it as if they are guarding the way. As Ichi walks she almost imagines that a path clears- that large leaves draw back with a murmur, that flowers turn their heads- but she feels sleepy, drunk- as if this is only a dream. She walks through the shadows of the path, the light of morning peeking between the thick cover of branches over head, illuminated the shadow with soft rays of light gracing the forest floor. She does not know how long they follow the path- has it only been minutes? Or hours?- all she knows is that she does not tire, unconscious of time.

Ichi comes to a stop at the end of the shadowed path, still ringed with the tangled cover of plant and bush-but behind her, bursting between them is a bright light, peeking from between the leaves, illuminating her form so that for a moment she seems to glows, with a halo of day around her. She bows, moving out of the way and motioning for her to look for herself. Her path is blocked by the thick tangled wall of foliage- is it a wall of bush and flower?- but when she gently raises her hand- it bows before her and to her surprise moves out of the way- and she is blinded-

She is blinded by a light so intense that she must raise a silken sleeve, her vision assaulted by the intensity of it- it is a long moment before her gaze can focus, before her sight adjusts- and what she finds makes her heart clench in her chest. She is truly standing on the edge of the world- and like a vast ocean the sky is spread out before her, a sprawling, endless stretch of blue and cloud. It is infinite- overwhelming- she feels as if she is flying, floating on wings- sky overhead, below- everywhere her eyes can see is the pink and orange of morning, before her- the sun rising from the depths of the world below as if she could touch it- her hand is reaching- _as if she could_-

A cold hand wraps itself around her waist and stops her- she breaks out of the strange trance that has transfixed her, and blearily she tears her eyes from the otherworldly beauty spread out before her- Ichi is to one side of her- Ni- the other- and together in the light- the sun is reflected in the depths of those black pits so that for a moment they seem warm.

"You must be careful My Lady. This...is the end."

"The end..?" She repeated, still feeling as if none of this is real, as if this is all some strange fantastic dream- is this real? Is any of this real? She places a hand on the cold arms around her waist, holding her back- the sudden chill of their skin against her palm frightens her, the starkness of the comparison jarring. Abruptly she feels sick._ 'Don't look down.'_ She thinks suddenly, feeling her heart, her stomach, lurch into her throat. _'Think- if all you see before you is sky- then what is below-?'_

She blinks for a moment, blinded anew by the beauty of the dawn before her as if she could touch it- as if she is floating- but wait- her brows are knitting together- the heavy scent of the flowers, intensifying- she can't focus, the heavy scent of the perfume making her head groggy, her thoughts unclear. She-"What is down there below us?" The words sound away- far away- she is transfixed by the sun, her thoughts are being carried away by the wind- cold skin lies beneath her palms-

"The world." Who is that speaking again? She feels disjointed, disconnected- as if she is falling through the sky- "The world that you left behind." _Who?_- she turns- and the blue eyed man is beside her- an image in white- blue eyes- how beautifully they shine in the light- and he- is reaching for the sun as if-

"My Lady?"

She blinks- but no one is there- were blue eyes ever there? She blinks again hastily, wearily-_ nothing is there_- Ichi and Ni are staring at her again, black eyes bright in the sunlight. She shivers- even though she is standing in the warmth of the sun- she can no longer feel it. Suddenly- the sweet, coaxing scent of the flowers sickens her.

"C-Can we...go back i-inside?"

"If that is what My Lady wishes."

She nods and steps back, watching in amazing as the flower and bush right themselves, growing and tangling once more to form a wall of foliage, sealing off her view of the end, and cloaking the path once more in shadow. She follows them back along the path, feeling faint every step of the way. There is a moment when her eyes feverishly search through the trees and flower surrounding her- and she almost imagines there is a figure standing there. A porcelain mask- narrow, curved black slits for eyes- a grinning red mouth- it is the face of a fox, laughing at her, watching her from the shadows of the trees. She blinks hastily- more waking dreams? More nightmares?- but when she looks again, it is gone.

* * *

The place in which she finds herself, this massive estate- is on what seems to be an island in the sky, among the clouds. This is the realm Ichi and Ni had spoke of, the gilded prison to which their master had sentenced her. Although the journey to the end had seemed brief, Ichi and Ni assured her that was only because here there was no conception of 'time'- here it was fleeting- hours could pass in what seemed like minutes, weeks in what seemed like days- months in moments- and years- it made her wonder- had it been ten years then? What was time to beings that were eternal? Nothing- a ten year's sleep had surely been nothing.

The estate they assured her, acted in the same way- one could be lost for days in its winding halls, be gone for weeks scouring the history of the world etched into its marble walls- although they assured her that time was of no consequence, it was with a grave word that Ichi spoke to her.

"Of course that is not to say that My Lady will not age. Time is of no consequence to us as we are not of the realm that is bound by it. However My Lady...will still age as all mortals must."

"I-Is that s-so?" She murmured that night, sprawled out on silken pillows before the paintings etched into her walls, scouring the mountains for the village hidden in the leaves.

"Yes. When My Lady was brought here, you were but a girl."

"W-What? I-I-I...I w-was?" She stated in abrupt shock, her normally low murmur quickly escalating into a near yell of disbelief. She turned her head around so violently that she nearly broke her neck, shocked at this admittance, her heart sputtering in her chest. Immediately she floundered, wanting to apologize for raising her voice but Ichi seemed to have played the slight no mind, continuing unfazed.

"Yes. You had lived twelve summers before Master brought you here- and you have slept for a mortal decade- so physically My Lady appears to be twenty summers."

She blanched- a girl! She had been a young girl! That changed things significantly, altered the strange history that was her own in a way so strange and starling she was uncertain how to begin considering it. It was one matter to think- all of the accounts of herself she had gained thus far made her inclined to believe that she had come of here of her own free will- _'the world you left behind-'_ - but to have made the decision so young? This admittance, however slight, she kept in her memory and coveted. Any tales of the past- her past- seemed precious now, more so to her than they probably had been when she had been in full possession of them. Although she found asking Ichi and Ni questions about her past directly could prove unfruitful- there was much about her they did not know themselves- often some comment of her own would allow for them to drop precious details of her life from before.

Surely thus far she had been faced with no great displeasure- she was fed, well looked after, provided for- clothed daily in fine kimonos that surely were worth their weight in gold. Since her meeting with the Master she had not seen him since- and were it not for the company of Ichi and Ni she would have had no one to sate her loneliness. But to think- sometime in the distant past- a young girl of twelve summers had allowed herself to be spirited away to a strange land. Were such things...common in her time? Did such things happen? Did young girls willingly give themselves to demons? Was her surprise even justified? Or was this all common place? For a moment she was stunned, so locked in this new and sudden thought that she could find nothing to say. Surely a young girl- would have been missed? Had she no family to mourn her? No friends to wonder about her? Or had she simply been alone, ripe for the taking?

"I-I do not u-understand...if it is as you s-say- what would such a powerful d-demon w-want with a young g-girl? W-Why did he-"

But she pauses mid sentence as Ichi slowly shook her head in dismissal.

"That we do not know My Lady, the origin of Master's ascension- and yours- is known only to our Lord. There is not much we know about My Lady's past- we were created and tasked with My Lady's safekeeping after you had entered your slumber."

The reality of it is striking- she turns back towards the painted scenery, gathering her thoughts. The reality of the time she had slept- ten years- now carried with it an anxious foreboding like it never had before. And what had passed over her in ten years? What had she forgotten? She knew with certainty that she could not allow herself to forget the words murmured in that dark room- **_"Are you not satisfied? This is what you asked of me-"_** As if a child would have known! How could she have known what she was asking for, begging for? Did a young girl of twelve summers- truly know anything?

There is a story here- and it is on this day that she promises to herself- no matter how improbable it would be given her current power- to find out what it was. _  
_

* * *

_A few notes: Thank you again to everyone who read, Favorited reviewed= even the reviewer who told me this wasn't interesting enough and left me ;_; It's cool I feel you, this probably isn't moving fast enough for a majority of folk, naruto fans particularly who are probably used to a lot more action ^^;; I'm a fan of the build myself, and as a reader I like having things to think about and trying to guess where a story is going so if even if it seems slow I would like to think it's going to be worth it, (if I know what I'm doing that is) Since I'm pretty much just writing the type of a story i felt like reading ;3;_

_And to the reviewer he pmed asking me why this wasn't marked as AU...if you've been keeping up with some of the mythos of the naruto-verse then this chap should ring a bell. If not, half of the creation of the world story is true in the naruto-verse, the other half I can't say since I made it up-cough cough- and will have much to do with the following chapters. So the next few chapters should make more sense and less- if that even makes sense- _

_also to those of you wondering if Hinata's going to stay weak and confused forever fear not she'll get her legs soon. Anywho thanks for sticking with me thus far, see you guys next week ^^_


	5. Silhouette

_-*Silhouette:_

_His Shadow In White Rooms_

* * *

Time passes by slowly. She finds that the longer she remains awake, the less conscious she is of it, passing her by. How long had she been here? How long had she been awake? She spent much of her time thinking- she thought of many things- about who she was- and the world below. She would find herself seated before the painted panels of her room, scouring over the images etched into the walls. She did not find the village hidden in the leaves again- but to her surprise she found more. It seemed to her that every now and then she would awaketo find another image painted into the wall, as if the walls were the world, turning on an axis to show her more and more of it. Once she had woken up to be surrounded by desert, small spires, and a village hidden among pillars of sand. Then she awoke to mountain and sand give way to ocean, waves and birds overhead- and a village offshore a beach, waves crashing along it's shore. Next there is barren ground and black sky, with geysers bursting through the ground, a village at the base of a smokey mountain, lava bursting from its tip. She finds comfort in the sight of them, of searching for the villages hidden- and yet somehow she always knows where to look, where to find them.

It is a small comfort to her- finding the pathways, to see the people going about their daily lives. Some she finds leaping from rooftops, skulking through alleys- heroes returning from journeys to the cheers of villagers- or bringing in the dead to somber silence. With marked fascination she studies the images, wondering with no small degree as to why she found such comfort in the sights of them. How familiar it all seemed- perhaps she had grown up in such a village, hidden from the world? Maybe- had not Ichi and Ni said this was why this had been her room? Because it comforted her, reminded her of the home she had left behind?

She made a game of writing her own history, depending on the village she woke up to find before her eyes- If she had lived in the village in the sand, she would have surely become a fierce warrior, tempered by the harsh elements of her homeland. If it had been the village of the waves, it almost seemed as if she would have had a lax life of meditation and peace. And if it she had been born in the village hidden in the leaves-she remembered acutely how the sight had brought her to tears- how she could imagine the people calling her name- surely there if nowhere- she would have been happy.

* * *

_The moon rises and sets. For a time, she nearly forgets that her life is no longer her own. For a time she almost believes that this place is her sanctuary, tucked away from a cruel world and its master only a shadow with no name. But there comes a moment when she is reminded that it is a prison and she herself- is in a cage._

* * *

It is night- and she is seated before a panel of mirrors at a ornate golden vanity, running an embroidered comb through the length of her long dark hair. She had bid Ichi and Ni good night, waving away their departure and hoping they were getting some much needed rest- surely it must grow tiring, looking after her from morn til night- and she always tried to be mindful of such. She did not know where they went- or from whence they came- only that they were the last ones she saw before she closed her eyes and the first she saw when she awoke.

_'I wonder what it is they do when not in my company,'_ she wondered to herself, long dark mane pulled over her shoulder, so that the heavy black strands were pooled in her lap. She found that without Ichi and Ni's quick and deft hands to manage it, the length of her mane could prove challenging. But she supposed when you hadn't had a hair cut in ten years, it was to be expected. By candlelight she fought a particularly stubborn knot at the ends, suddenly wishing if for nothing else, she was able to cut the impossible length of it to something far more manageable.

She hears the door being swung open behind her, and she pauses to place the comb back on the vanity, turning with surprise. Could they sense her discomfort? "U-Um I-I'll be fine, the t-two of you can-"

She feels her heart plummet into her chest, an icy cold chill racing down her spine. It is there- brewing in her chest, in every flickering shadow of the candlelight against the wall, coming from the dark of the night over head. It is the sound of her heart- the sound of her drawing in a ragged breath-and the silence of his footsteps, as she sits in the ominous looming of his shadow. He enters the room, and the door swings closed behind him- and it is him before her, gliding closer to the light, making the flame shudder and dance as if it too is afraid-

"Turn around." he stated suddenly, so quickly for a moment that she gaped blankly at him, perplexed and horrified. The mask, hiding his face from sight- porcelain and white- with curved black slits for eyes, lined with red. A black grin._ 'A fox-'_ she thinks with acute horror, thinking of the shadow in the garden. _'A grinning fox.'_ At her blank eyed look of terror he seemed almost to sigh, as if with some strange frustration. "I'm not very patient."

Immediately she hurried to comply, reeling around from him on the dais, her heart sputtering so erratically in her chest she feels as if it will burst at any moment. She struggles to remember how to draw breath, how to hold it without gasping- calm- she must calm herself! But her mind is spinning, whirling- '_why has he come? What...does he want? What is he going to do?'_ She is shaking again, shuddering again- as if her heart is cold as ice, making her very skin chill. She is waiting, with breathless, nameless horror- that black hand, where is that horrible black hand, smothering her beneath its darkness? And where is that dark in her ear, mocking her in her weakness?

He steps near her, standing behind her- so close to her that she feels as if she is going to burn, not the gentle warmth of the blue eyed man, but an overwhelming heat, fierce and powerful so that she feels as if she is suddenly sitting in a pit of flames. She is trembling, her eyes drawing closed even though she fights it, tries to look strong, to remain strong. She can feel the black behind her eyelids, reaching out as if it wants to drown her in silence- the urge to faint, the urge to drift into the darkness and let it take her away- And when his hand finally touches her- when that burning hand touches the side of her bare neck- she jumps, pale white hands gripping the seat so strongly they are ashen.

He laughs, but it sounds bitter and tight, with warning- as if with fury or anger. "How your heart pounds when I am near you Hanahime. As if it is going to leap right out of your chest." He murmurs the words spitefully- she is not certain if they are supposed to be a comfort, but instead the softly murmured words sound like an oath- as if he wanted it to happen so he could catch it, and feast upon it as it fluttered weakly in his palm. He is hot- so hot- and she is cold and shuddering, even though she feels her face begin to warm as if she is burning beneath a mid day sun.

A burning hand reaches around her- for a moment she gasps- it seems as if he is going to grab her neck, as if he is going to choke her- her head swims and her heart seems to stop- but he brings back the heavy black curtain of her hair, pulling it behind her shoulders. His claws- gently skim against the delicate skin of her neck. She shudders again- but this time she does not know why. She gulps, throat dry and face growing warmer by the moment, a strange contrast to the crippling stiffness of her limbs. Her entire body is rigid, tensed from fright and disbelief.

_'You are his w-woman.'_ She reminded herself. That was the same thing as a possession to her lord, the same thing as a trophy, a victory. She was his- again the whisper, the murmur, finishing the thought- _'He would kill you before he let you go.'_ She shivered again, her blood and the increasingly erratic pounding of her heart roaring in her ears. _'You are his.'_

She looks into the mirror- but she sees only herself, face flushed, pale with fright and anxiety, lavender eyes somber and hazy- she looks as if she is about to cry again- eyes wide and wounded, her shoulders trembling. But what is even more startling- he is not there. She nearly gasps aloud, withholding the sound at the last moment, uncertain- is this another delusion? Is this another dream? She looks again, to assure herself that her observation is true- but it is- her Lord has no reflection.

"Are you wondering why?" He states aloud, as if to answer the thought, as if he could hear her every thought aloud. "Why I have no reflection?" She leaned forward to give herself some distance, room to breathe- his chest- his burning chest- is at her back- she can't breathe-a long arm reaches forward- and she catches sight of a strand of his hair, from where it has fallen form his shoulder- it gleams in the light the color of new flame- singed gold?- she can't breathe- he grabs a brush from the mantle, withdraws. She draws a gasping breath- She says nothing.

"Do you not want to know? Or are you frightened at the thought of seeing your Master for yourself?"

She says nothing, tongue tied- but her face burns brighter from her shame, for this admittance that she herself could not voice. Slowly, tortuously slowly, he pulls the porcelain brush through her hair, starting from the crown. She sees it in the mirror- being drawn down the length of her hair- as if being guided by the hand of a spirit.

"Perhaps the fates themselves fear the sight of me." He murmured again, his voice filled with an arrogance and pride she should have known to expect from a creature of legend. "And as they should be. Do you know why?"

"B-B-B-Because you...y-you a-are a d-demon..." she ground out weakly, in a whisper more child than woman.

"Yes, that's a good girl Hanahime- so you have learned something after all." He leans forward again as if to praise her- she closes her eyes again, squeezes them shut- she hears the clink of the comb as it is placed back on the mantle- but he does not withdraw this time. He stays, hovering, surrounding her in a burning sea of flames so that she feels as if she is sweating, bangs damp against her forehead, feeling flushed and weak. He leans down- his face- his face is there-right there if she has the strength to but look- but she dares not, can not. It seems that if she were to do so- as if she ever so much as dared- she would turn to ash. She could not control this feeling- but it was there- and she could not deny it. And he speaks to her- she can feel the murmur of his breath at her ear, close- so close, he breathes in the scent of her skin, where her delicate neck meets her trembling shoulders.

"What is it you want?" He murmurs against her neck, so close!- as if he wants to place a kiss there. Her head is swimming, pounding, aching- it takes everything in her power to not wither in his presence, to not wilt beneath the might of his shadow smothering her in darkness.

"I-I-I d-desire n-n-nothing My L-Lord." She murmured in a broken whisper, the words disjointed and shattered by her stuttering, worse now that she was rattled and frightened.

"Hmm." He murmurs there and she can feel the vibration of the sound, echoing in her head.

"Then consider it a gift." He stated as he raised his hands before her- and between his claws is a necklace, on a golden chain- there is a strange amulet dangling on the end of it, gleaming in the light.

"I-I-I-I-"

But he ignores her fumbling, drawing the chain gently around her neck. It is cold-and along with the skimming of his claws along her skin she finds her breath hitch in her throat. Anxiety, unease, restlessness- it is more and it is less filling her throat, choking the words before they could leave her- what is this? What is happening? To refuse was insanity, but to accept- cowardice?

"T-T-Thank you M-My Lord."

For a moment he is silent- is he surveying her? Is he judging her? What is he thinking? Why has he come? Only to give her this- gift? Was it truly a gift? Or was this some test? She could not- did not- understand- her head was a spiraling torment of emotions, of thoughts and feelings, the combination of them and her anxiety making the blood flood to her face. _She is going to faint, she is going to faint, she is_- but he is speaking, her master is speaking and she has no choice but to obey.

"Tomorrow you will join me for dinner. They will bring you to me. And you will where this."

She nods her head in compliance, eyes transfixed on her hands in her lap- she can still feel his gaze- you would think it would be cold, as impassive as the mask he wore- but it was- a burning gaze.

"Y-Y-Yes My Lord."

He is still there, over her- he is still there, smothering her, he is- she can't think- what is he doing? She stills at the feeling of his hand, claws dragging lazily along the slender column of her throat- her pulse flutters madly beneath his fingertips, her heart pounding in her chest- his hand- his hand is rough, calloused- but when it draws around her neck-_ sheisgoingtofaintsheisgoingtofaintsheisgoingtofain t-_ she cannot, must not- and suddenly words come spiraling from her lips, so suddenly that the force of them startle her, frightening her.

"W-w-why do y-you c-c-call me H-H-Hanahime?"

They both pause- he from recollection? Reflection? Her in absolute fear- what had she just said? How could she have dared? And icy cold chill at the brooding silence, fractured only by the shuddering of her chest- she dared not even draw a breath. He pauses at this- or rather- he smiles against her neck, although she cannot see it. As if she has said some magical word, he pulls back slightly- and she can feel his hair, a silken whisper against the unprotected skin of her shoulder.

"Why indeed?" He states cryptically, sounding as if he is going to break out into more of that frightening laughter. "Goodnight then...Hinata"

It was the way the name left his lips. It was the way they caressed every syllable, as if the very word were his lover, a coveted secret. It was the way her blood seemed to blaze beneath her skin- it was her name- it was her true name- but he said it as if he owned it, as if it were his own. He said it like he had taken it from her, leaving her nameless, powerless._ 'Give it back!'_ She thinks suddenly, powerfully, the words on her tongue- as if they would bring with them ten years worth of darkness, of slumber. She has never felt the constraints of this place, its limitations until this moment in which she can almost hear the sound- of doors swinging closed, being locked into a tomb without light or warmth.

But he withdraws and for a moment she almost reaches for him, almost grabs his sleeve with her hand. It is only at the last minute that she stops herself- what...what was she doing?-and too late she turns to catch sight of him as he leaves. He does not vanish, although she knows they all have that same peculiar ability, to appear and disappear at will. No- he taunts her and her fear by using the door, by allowing her to see him leave- whether to alleviate some of her fear of him or to sharpen it she knows not which. Only that when she turns she watches him- a tall, straight back- if the blue eyed man glided as if he had wings, then he stalked as if he hunted prey. Every movement he made seemed filled with that same awful power, as if he were walking, wading through blood and bone and cared nothing of it. Even from behind him- behind him- she felt as if some terrible gaze was upon her, a gaze of madness and contempt.

But his hair- it is the color of newly born flame- it is as she had thought it at first glance- golden- but it was the gold of candlelight, of the flicker of fire- it is not the pure gold of kings- it is the gold of brass and sorrow- and it is long- a beautiful rugged mane nearly as long as her own, rippling behind him, lapping against his heels. Wild, untamed- restrained and tied with a silk black ribbon so that she can see the back of his neck. And abruptly he tosses back that wild mane and laughs. It is a harsh, wild sound. And immediately she leaps into her bed, pulling the cover over her head. She cowers there in the dark beneath it long after the doors had closed behind him.

* * *

The next day she finds herself in the garden seated among a thousand blooming flowers. Ichi is standing by her side shielding her from the rays of the mid day sun with a delicate parasol, while Ni leads the way, pointing out the flowers as she spots them. She had taken it upon herself to suggest they differentiate themselves in some way, so she would not offend them by her inability to tell them apart. Although they constantly assured her that she need go through no such pains- indeed she did not even need to address them they said, they were merely servants they said- but with a streak of stubbornness she didn't know she possessed she assured them it was important to her. She threw herself into the task with vigor, to occupy her mind, her hands- so that she would not think of him, nor the amulet gleaming on her vanity. To dote on it was to walk into the dark of her mind, of a black she had no strength to interpret. Weakness- but she kept it away from her, out of sight and out of mind.

She had taken two of her own ribbons- a red and blue- and had tied them delicately around their frail necks, and they stared at her warily, seemingly exasperated with the entire ordeal. They stared at her and at themselves rather curiously after, and for some peculiar reason seemed particularly attentive to her needs. Somehow- even though she still did not know them very well- it seemed that this episode, for the first time- made them aware that they were different. Their constant company had done much to assure her of their noted differences, however slight. Ichi it seemed, was slightly more attentive, more willing to speak with confidence gained from experience. Ni it seemed, preferred silence and contemplation, and usually followed Ichi's wake without complaint or note. They were indeed strange, these woman children who watched over her. But more than that- she could not forget the moment- white foxes in the mirror's reflection.

And she-

"The is Suidakra, the flower that dances." Ichi remarks, motioning towards a large flower towering over the path, stalk swaying drunkenly in the breeze."That is Sodoona, it's mate, the flower that flees. Darwen is there- it grows up the sides of trees and blooms along the bark."

-just wants to forget the sound of his laughter in the dark, and how long after his departure she had heard it, echoing in her mind, amplified in that empty room to the point of pain. She nodded as she followed Ichi along the garden path, staring around her with awe and wonder. Again- the garden is a place of such serene beauty that it nearly takes her breath away. She nods along, eyes drifting around the forest- when she sees him.

There is a golden flash, of sky- she stops, her heart lurching in her chest. Immediately Ichi matches her stride, staring up into her suddenly wild gaze with curiosity.

"My Lady?" She murmured quietly, but she cannot answer her, starring with fixed fascination at the spot. _'Am...I dreaming again?"_

Standing in the shadow of the trees is the Blue Eyed Man. There is a smile on his face- a bright, wide smile of mirth- how wide it stretches- so that the marks on his cheeks scrunch and wrinkle. Laughing? He is laughing? He waves at her, haphazardly, wildly- his lips part- he is calling her name? Yes- _'Hinata!'_ Her name- that is- her name is it not? Can she hear it? Is she hearing it? _'Hinata! Hey!'_ How familiar it sounds on his lips- beloved- her heart- her heart in her chest- it aches- it burns, it-'_Come catch me Hinata!'_ He is calling her- he is calling her- she must- she must go to him- can't they see him? Can't they hear him? No- it is only her, only-

But she is running before she can stop herself, gathering up the length of her kimono in her hands as she dashes into the bush, assaulted by the low hanging limbs of the trees, foliage and brush making her steps stumble and falter, catching in the length of her hair, snagging in the silk of her kimono- "Wait!" She finds herself yelling, screaming after him- "P-P-Please wait-!"

Did she imagine the sound of his laughter, echoing in the trees? Or his voice, calling her further and further into the gloom? Was this another dream? Was she awake? She stumbled after him, gasping, sweat on her brow, the exposed length of her legs covered in thin scratches that she did not feel- and there is a sound, brewing, building in her ears, a scream rising in her throat-

_'Where are you going without me?'_ She wants to yell after him, to scream after him. Don't leave me- she is thinking- Don't leave me again- Who are you? Spirit? Delusion? Or- She sees him, up ahead, as if a mile away- there he is- his silhouette, standing at the edge of the clearing- what is on the other side of him? _'The world'-_ _who is that, speaking to her, pale ghost with eyes like pain?_- he is illuminated by the bright of the day, by the blue of the sky behind him. And his eyes- such clear, bright blue eyes- framed by a rugged halo of gold- and he is smiling at her, laughing at her- he reaches out a hand- a hand she knows- if she could only reach it, if she could only-

-she reaches out her hand and-

Something abruptly grabs her by the ankle, clutches it and holds it fast- she trips and stumbles, crashing violently to the forest floor below. Her head cracks unmercifully against an upturned tree root, pain blossoming behind her eyelids. _'No!'_ She wants to yell out in agony, in anguish- her heart- how it pains her! _'Not yet! Please don't go!'_ Who? _Who?_ Is it him- No- bleary wild eyes search the distance, being devoured by the shroud of unconsciousness-no one- there is no one there, to take her hand- crying- she wants to cry- as she finds herself fading away, the black taking her- but for a moment, only a moment- she imagines the flowers are singing.

* * *

_AN: Thanks again to everyone reading, reviewing and following, its very inspiring and I hope everyone has been enjoying it so far. The chapter is short, but hopefully it was good enough despite my mistakes. It seems like Hinata keeps seeing the 'blue eyed man'- better be careful Hinata, Lord Kyuubi doesn't seem like the sharing type. And in case I wasn't clear enough, the Lord Kyuubi hides his face behind a mask. Next time, a very interesting dinner, see everyone next chapter. _


	6. Catharsis

_-*Catharsis:_

_The Clash Of Egos_

* * *

"My Lady that was very careless of you. Have we not informed you that My Lady is still in a very delicate state? Your strength has not fully returned, and it was most unwise to go gallivanting through the garden without warning- My Lady could have been seriously injured."

Ichi's scolding she found, although given with the best intentions, only seemed to serve the purpose of making her feel more and more wretched. She felt her face flush with embarrassment, her fingers drawing together in her lap.

"I-I-I a-am sorry...I...d-did not m-mean to m-make you w-worry...T-Thank y-you." She added shyly to Ni, who was delicately applying a strange cooling salve to the thin scratches on her legs. Her head had already been attended to, a bandage wrapped delicately around the wound on her temple. Somehow the girl's wordless reply only seemed to intensify the gravity of her offense, Ichi by her side still eyeing her with a sharp black gaze.

"Master will not be pleased that you have caused yourself such harm. And I do not understand your actions My Lady. What was of such importance that you felt the need to abandon your servants?" She continued with a slight frown on her delicate lips. "Have we displeased you in some manner?"

"N-N-No!" She stated quickly, hands fluttering as she shook her hand in adamant refusal. "The t-t-two of y-you have been w-wonderful to m-me."

Ichi acknowledges this without a word, but then her eyes grow tight- cold again as they trace her wounds.

"Then My Lady...where were you going? You were calling out to someone."

There is a cold chill in the air between them- and suddenly she knows she cannot say. If they knew- if they knew- would he know as well?_ 'Can I trust you?'_ She remembers asking, and the reply-_ 'My lady...we can neither refuse nor betray you.'_ She needed to know what...was happening to her. Was this some strange after effect of her slumber? Was she going mad from solitude, from the gilded cage of privilege? She needed to know and- the risk lay in the fact that there was no one else she could ask, save the master himself.

"I..." she began, uncertain how to voice the thought aloud. And...not wanting too, as if- it were a secret that belonged to her, and her alone. No...that was nonsense...she was being plagued by some spirit, haunted by some illusion. It was not real, _he_ was not real...he had never been real...and she had no right to cause them worry over a secret that need not be kept. To tell was the honorable thing- she need not concern them over so small a slight. It was...nothing. "I-I...saw the B-Blue-Eyed Man again. I...k-keep seeing h-him." She murmured quietly, eyes momentarily falling to the pale hands in her lap.

Ni's hands pause for the briefest of moments against the smooth skin of her leg- black eyes dart to Ichi- and then her hand continues on its path, along the side of her calf. She carefully watches Ichi's impassive face- but it mirrors her sister's and reveals nothing.

"My lady...we have told you once before that we know of no such man. Truly I tell you- none inhabit these grounds but My Lady, Our Master, and his servants. All else are banished save those powerful enough to bypass the barrier here on their own power. My Lady is still not fully recovered- your mind is weak...It is possible that perhaps..." Here Ichi trailed off, her gaze thoughtful.

Ni finished with her legs, silently sealing the jar of salve and rising to her full height before speaking. Ni spoke rarely, content to allow her brethren speak for the both of them, as they often seemed to be of one mind and body. However when Ni did, her words always seemed to carry an unusual amount of weight.

"Master...will know what to do." She stated calmly, emphatically, "It would be...in My Lady's best interest."

"N-No!" She yelled out quickly, horrified. Immediately their eyes darted to her and her flush grew darker with embarrassment, as she struggled to explain herself, less they mistake her intentions. But she could_ feel_ it, balancing on some delicate precipice over a bottomless deep. Anymore of this- and they would surely begin to doubt the clarity of her mind, her sanity, and then- "I-I m-mean...t-there is n-no need to bother h-him over a such a s-small thing...I-I'm p-probably just t-tired...I...I j-just n-need rest."

Ichi is still eyeing her with a strange look of discontent, but Ni seems to hear the pleading underlining the current of her words, can see the begging in her pale, wide eyes._ 'Please...do not tell him. He cannot...must not know.'_ Ni eyed her carefully for an extended moment before she spoke, as if she almost wants to ask her- _"Are you afraid? Do you fear him? Or what- he is capable of?"_-but none of those words leave her lips. Instead she seems to make some effort to instead give her some measure of relief, the wordless conversation still flickering between their gazes.

"If...that is what My Lady desires...we will refrain on your account. But I do warn My Lady...secrets cannot be kept from Master for long. If these visions persist...something must be done. It would not do well for My Lady to remember...after all that would defeat the purpose of your forgetting in the first place."

She listened carefully to Ni's word's, mulling over them. _To forget._ She had begged for this, had wanted this. A young girl of twelve summers- had prostrated herself before a demon god, and had begged to forget. To be set free from a pain so unimaginable that she would not have been able to survive it. To forget- a lifetime of sorry? A decade of torment? The face of everything she had known, had loved? Did that include- the blue eyed man? _'Then why...why can I not forget him? Then why...why won't he leave me?'_ Haunted- plagued- by this blue eyed shadow that bore no name.

"T-That...is w-what I d-don't understand. W-What...what did I want to f-forget? And...w-why?" She could not forget the words, hidden somewhere deep in her soul, perhaps would never forget them._ 'I am the one who loves you, in this life or the next...'_ Pity- Ichi's black eyes- could have such a strange look of pity.

"That My Lady...is known only to you and Master." She stated quietly, solemnly.

And he said- _"The girl you are has died in this moment. Look no farther than me."_ Master they called him- Lord Kyuubi, the keeper of secrets, the creature, the powerful being with no face. She felt her lips tighten- she knew that, she could sense it- _he had known._ He had known everything. He...still knew everything. But dare she... ask him? Dare she wonder? And what...would he say, if he said anything at all? The man, the being that lie behind that mask, behind that porcelain face of the grinning fox- what lie lurking there? But Ichi and Ni bowed before her, turning to make their departure and leave her to the bleakness of her own thoughts.

"We will leave you now My Lady, and will return to prepare you for dinner. Rest well until then."

She watches quietly as they exit on silent steps, the doors sliding shut behind them. Once she was certain she was alone, she gingerly placed a hand on the scarred flesh of her leg- eyeing the strange discoloration ringing her ankle. At the first prod of her fingertips, a familiar shudder she knows makes her body tremble with the beginnings of something that reeked of fear. She knows it for what it is- the grip of a black hand, dragging her back. Just like before- that black hand grabbing her forward between those open doors- the same, lingering scent of something foul. _'T-The flowers...the garden?...did it...try to stop me?'_ Tried to stop her from what? From chasing a ghost, a specter? At the edge of that path along which the Blue Eyed Man had tread- what was it? What had he been running towards? He had reached out for her, too her- as if she only needed the strength to take his hand, to follow him- but she- her fist tightened against her leg. She hadn't even been strong enough to do that.

Was she truly going crazy? How could one be so transfixed on a vision, a delusion? Something...something was wrong with her. Perhaps...perhaps Ichi and Ni were right...maybe she needed to tell him...but the thought of doing such carried with it an air of betrayal._ 'And what will he do when you tell him? Maybe he will put you back to sleep, make you forget again, make you start over again-'_ She shivered unconsciously- not that. The thought of being swallowed in the dark of time once more was unwelcome, frightening. How many years would it be this time? Twenty? Thirty? No- she would keep it to herself, she would tell no one. She just had to...resist. If the Blue eyed man came again, she would just...resist.

She flopped onto her back with a sigh, her arms crossed over her eyes. She took a few deep breaths, to prepare herself. Tonight she would have to be in his company until he grew weary of the sight of her. And what..what did he want with her? Indeed why would a demon- one powerful enough to be a god- a being beyond human comprehension- have need for some weak mortal? What was it...what lie between them that transcended words, worlds? What had been worth...leaving the world behind? She sucked in another deep breath- but it served no purpose. She still did not feel ready, nor prepared- between the the thought of Blue-Eyes haunting her, she felt as if she were once more pinned beneath that gaze- _'Red.'_ She...she didn't know anymore. But she remembered again the wild sound of his laughter and shuddered.

* * *

She arrives to dinner as he bid, clothed in a dark red kimono, off setting the delicate metal charm displayed at her throat. It looked- like a whirlpool, a strange swirling symbol that she did not recognize- or did she? Should she know it? She did not know- but she wore it as he bid of her and did not once think of otherwise. On the surface her face was calm, although she knows her skin is pale, sickly in the light from her worry- what did he want of her? Just her company? Would there be more... less? He had not once seemed interested in her in the slightest since their initial meeting- indeed for days, weeks, months?- the sun had risen and set without her once seeing him, the moon rising and sinking without a mention of his name. So long that she had almost allowed herself to forget- but how could she have forgotten?_ 'You are his woman.'_ Words, coming back to haunt her, making her pulse pound, her blood race so that for a moment she nearly swoons, trembling on her feet. Strength- she needed it now, to whether this- no matter what may come. Even if- her hands are tight, ashen- even if he...he...asked her to do what was expected of her. As...as a woman...as- she could not finish it, knowing for certain that the completion of the thought would be the end of her. She found herself so overwhelmed with doubts that she lacked appetite, not even sure she could suffer a bite of any of the rich foods she knew they would provide for her. And as she stood before the audience room she could feel her entire body shaking, ratting in her sleeves, uncertain and anxious- because she could _feel_ him, on the other side of it.

"Do not fear My Lady." Ni comforted her by her side in the listless tone she knew so well- "Remember...that Master means you no harm." But they did not know of his words, did not know of that frightful oath to grind her bones to dust-they did not know the snap of his fangs in the darkness. When those solemn doors parted before her, she entered stiffly, not even questioning the trembling legs that drew her in- where they her own? Or more of that black hand, guiding her, dragging her forward?

As she entered the room the doors solemnly closed behind her and she bowed shakily before him. If nothing else, she found that the ominous pressure that had so numbed her, so crippled her, seemed to no longer be in the room- and that foul presence, that dark voice did not arise to taunt her in the shadows of her mind. Had he...contained it? Smothered it? To her surprise she finds that she is able to better maintain her composure, no matter how fragile, now that she was no longer burdened by that heart stopping fear.

"Rise." He stated, and she hurried to comply after her realization, still trying to calm her pounding heart. Not once- but twice he had chided her for this slight, as if her heart pounded out of spite- as if she were ungrateful, as if she were spiting in the face of his mercy, his generosity when it was nothing of the sort. She tried to lull it into normality, to silence it- but the roar of her blood in her ears, her temples throbbing- stops her from such. _'Strong. You must be strong.'_

He is there-sitting at the end of the long table, masked face in his claws. She stares at him, and his form for what truly seemed to her the first time. Seated she could not estimate his height- but she remembered his back, straight and proud. Arrogance- she could feel it- arrogance built on the back of his improbable power. His face was still fully hidden, concealed by that white porcelain mask, framed by two rugged golden forelocks that seemed to have escaped when his hair had been tied. He is clothed in a long robe of lack, hinged with red. She cannot see his face- and imagining it is so improbable that she dares not- but she can feel his eyes from behind those curved black slits, almost feel the smirk of his fangs beneath that porcelain grin.

"Come." He called, motioning for her to draw nearer to him with a clawed finger, to sit by his side. She took a hesitant step forward- as if he had been mistaken- but then her senses and common decency catch up with her and she walked around the table carefully, listening to the pound of her heart with every step. As she drew nearer the chair by his side pulled out of its own accord, permitting her entry. She seated herself, trying not to gasp when the chair jerked her forward, trapping her beneath his gaze.

She kept her own trained on the table- it was true he had subdued that awful power that had so broken her- but she could still feel the threat of it, the threat of him, and it alone was more than enough to force her submission. As if tendrils of that darkness were whispering in his shadow, as if it were there on his fingertips, caressing the delicate skin of her throat. She swallowed deeply, harshly, fighting everything in her that wanted to hyperventilate, to tremble, to run.

"Hmm?" He stated after an extended moment of surveying her. "You're doing better." She is uncertain how to respond- what did he mean? Was that...a compliment?...Praise? It is a moment longer before she realizes that he is referring to her demeanor, much approved from their first meeting, where she had been broken down to a sniveling, crying mess.

"I-I-I...Y-Y-Yes M-My Lord." She stated simply, not wanting to test her own limitations by saying any more than this- she can still feel her temples aching, a headache brewing behind her eyelids. It has only been a moment- but already she feels weary, spent- as if she had already lost a battle in which she had no claim.

"You are injured." he stated simply in reply, his voice giving nothing away, even when she feels her heart drop into her feet at his words, anxiously analyzing them. _'Is he angry? is he displeased?'_ She gulped, feeling her face flame, resisting the urge to instinctively touch the bandage on her temple, and draw more attention to it. It did not matter- he already knew. Had Ichi and Ni told him? No, they had given her their word...but- _'-secrets cannot be kept from Master for long...'_

"I-I...I f-f-fell in t-the g-garden t-today M-My L-Lord." She muttered, more mumble and whisper than words. To her surprise she finds a clawed hand, curiously drawing back the curtain of her hair to reveal the wound. Her heart sputters erratically in her chest as his claws skim the smooth skin of her cheek, her hands immediately drawing together in her lap- a nervous habit- as she begins to she feel faint, a tremble she could not control coming over her.

"You must be more careful. It would not do...to damage your beautiful skin." He warned- but the compliment was lost in his words-lingering between them like he wanted to taste it. It was lost between them because he said it like he was smiling, like he was grinning- and she looked up to find that the fox is laughing at her, as if the mask is grinning darkly at her with some malevolence she cannot place. She drops her head, her hand tightening into a fist beneath the table. _'It was you.'_ She thinks suddenly, of the black ring around her ankle, feeling adrenaline spike in her veins. _'It was you...'_ Drawing her back, keeping her away- too close- she had been too close to something-_'Do not seek me.'_ -too close to him? To what? She lowered her head, unconsciously drawing it away from his claws.

"I-I-I w-will My L-Lord." She murmured, pale eyes trained on the ashen hands wringing in her lap. _'It was you...'_

He says nothing and retracts his hand, silently- and she wonders if she merely imagines that the silence that follows seems disgruntled, sullen. For an extended moment there is nothing save for the steady thrum of her heart- and she finds that the silence gives her enough time to get herself under control. After a moment, the doors part and a woman child enters- she immediately looks up in relief at the thought of seeing a familiar face, but the girl who draws by her side gives her no form of acknowledgement. She merely bows low, back in a straight line.

"What will My Lady have this evening?"

"J-J-J-Just t-t-tea p-please." She mumbled, not feeling strong or calm enough to be able to eat before him without embarrassing herself or him.

"And you My Master?"She murmurs, turning to her lord.

"The usual." He states simply, and the girl quietly steps away into nothing, and thankfully her experience with Ichi and Ni had long since prepared her for this, so she does not startle. She nearly starts again once she realizes that the porcelain mask is still trained on her face, has never left. But it is not like before- she can no longer feel the black of his gaze like before- like that night when it seemed to burn, to scorch her skin- now there only seemed to be a cold curiosity, as if he were removed from it. A strange prodding- almost childlike?- curiosity.

"You stumble." He stated again, as if it is a matter of fact. And yet- somehow, she feels as if there is a question at the end of it, as if even though the words were stated in confidence, he wanted to assure himself that it was still true. However she quickly abandons this thought, as it seems his calling attention to her slight worsens it, rattling her even more than before. She struggles to understand him, and his strange questions- what is it he wants from her?

"A-AH Y-Y-yes M-My L-Lord." She stumbles out hastily, lamenting the way her voice trembles and yet accepting it-"I-I-Ichi a-and N-Ni b-believe i-it is m-merely a p-product of m-my a-awakening and w-will soon p-pass."

"No." He stated suddenly, in reply. "Some things never change. You always did...stutter."

Her eyes fly to his face immediately- had he meant to let that slip, such a precious fact that concerned her? The her that she had been? But she finds her gaze drops back to her lap at the realization that nothing would come of it regardless- she could not see his eyes, and could not read them._ 'Why do you hide your face from me?'_ She wants to asks, wants to know- but it became- _**'Do you not want to know? Are you frightened at the thought of seeing your Master for yourself?'-**_and it became _**'Can you bear it? Can you bear it little bird?'**_- No- what if the face that lie behind that mask was one of horror, carved from a heart of darkness, deformed beyond recollection- the face of nightmare and legend in living form? What could be more horrifying, more terrible? No- perhaps he wore it for her sake- **_'Do you not want to know?'_**- She did...but she...knew she was not strong enough. She could not- _**'Can you bear it?'**_ No, she thought with a shudder like anticipation. Not yet- but the words found her, echoing quietly in her mind even though she does not know if she should believe in them. _'Not yet...but soon.'_

She is lost in the corridors of her own thought, so that she nearly leaps from her chair when a white robed arm reaches across her to pour sweet scented tea into an ornate porcelain teacup that has appeared before her. She watches curiously as another servant places a large decorated bowl before her Master, along with a pair of exquisite chopsticks that seemed as if they were carved from jade. She looks with wonder at the two servants as they bow and depart, her eyes watching as they vanished in a thin stream of smoke left to mark their departure._ 'There are...more servants here than Ichi and Ni...'_ she thought with some semblance of surprise, as until now there had been no sign of any others save for the two of them. Perhaps...there was more to this place, if she had the strength but to look.

To her amazement she notices that her Master has raised the bowl to his face, and proceeds to eat at a rapid pace- but how is it possible with his mask? The bowl is so massive it hides his face save for the very top of the mask, two pointed porcelain ears. She stares with abrupt wonder as she watches him eat- she did not know what she had expected- perhaps impeccable table manners, as befitted a lord? For him to simply not eat at all? But to her surprise she found that... _'H-He...L-Lord K-Kyuubi...he...eats like a boy-'_ She does not know why the thought calms her, why it suddenly puts her at ease, but she feels the steady thrum of her heart begin to slow, some of the stiffness in her form relaxing slightly as she carefully watches him. _'M-Maybe he...'_

"You won't last long if you believe that." He murmured darkly, stunning her out of her reverie. "The bird that believes the cat is kind, is eaten in the end." he continued with a low chuckle, the cryptic nature of his words coming full circle. With a swift note of panic she realizes something of great importance, her mouth growing dry as her heart once more begins to pick up speed. Horror is beginning to set in, sheer disbelief making her pale eyes widen, her hands limp in her lap. _'H-He can...h-hear my t-thoughts? Y-You can...hear m-me?'_

"If you think them so earnestly, how can I not?" He added smugly, as if he enjoyed the look of absolute horror etched into the lines of her face. He lowers the bowl- and this time she can feel the burn, the heat rising to her face, the- _'Red.'_ Her head seems to swim, her breath drawing short again- and she cannot imagine the dark smirk beneath the mask, but she hears the echo of his words, chiding her. "You were always easy to read Hinata."

At the sound of her name- something cold, sinks into her chest, feeling the beginning of some horror she can no longer place sinking there as he carefully placed the bowl on the table.

"But you do not remember. Isn't that the beauty of ignorance?" -his voice takes an abrupt turn, growing dangerous, mocking."To be spared from pain? Released from torment? From the horror of the past?" Forward, leaning closer-_she can't breathe._ Closer- _she can't breathe_- black- black seems to swim before her eyes- his shadow- is a black beast encircling her, a vulture waiting to feast on her corpse. And behind those narrow slits seems to be the red of hell- "And how beautiful you are- when your eyes are wide with fear-" A sound- is the dark laughing, is the dark smiling? "But you should never reveal that weakness- shall I tell you why?" -laughter? Is someone laughing?-"The more you fear- the more demons want to cause you pain..." His hand- his claws- when had they risen to her throat? Her pulse is pounding beneath his fingertips, her heart frozen in her chest as the claws- again- delicately skin down the column of her throat, tracing her collarbone.

"More than demons loathe contentment, more than they abhor happiness- to cause misery, to bring destruction, to bring ruin- is the sweetest of past times..." She feels as if her blood is cold, as if she is a lifeless mound of clay in his hands, something cold and dead in his hands- as those claws dangerously trace the the edges of the kimono- her heart-_she can't breathe_- claws toying with the charm on her breast. And the dark's smile seems to grow, to widen- "And no gift...comes without its price." Her head is swimming-_she can't breathe-_ closer, that porcelain mask draws closer as if to give her a porcelain kiss- as if- and the black- she can feel her eyes, beginning to roll behind her head-

The door parts again, shattering the moment for both of them. For a moment longer he stays there, fouling her breathe with that black presence, tainting her with that dark power- before he withdraws, the black vanishing into nothing as he returned to his place. Immediately she drew in a gasping, shuddering breath, her entire body trembling and cold, a high note of panic echoing in her mind. Suffocating- she cannot breathe deeply enough, air does not enter her lungs fast enough- '_What...what was happening? What did he-' _ She cannot think, cannot focus- _'He wants to break you,'_ the thought echoing fearfully in her mind._ 'Why...for what purpose-'_ Did he want her to fear him, to tremble before his might and power? How could he- go from telling her to be careful, to telling her she was beautiful- to that dangerous moment, to a moment in which she had thought for certain- she shuddered, and could almost feel the snap of his jaws._ 'No more-I-I c-cannot-'_ she wills the thought away, dreading the remainder of their 'dinner.'

_"And no gift...comes without a price."_- still echoing darkly, fearfully in her mind. At this moment her haggard eyes find the door, another white robed girl entering carefully, as if she had been awaiting the passing of her master's suddenly black mood. Bowing low without proceeding any further in the room towards them, as she announced her purpose, black eyes trained on her Master.

"Master...he is here."

At the words she started immediately, casting aside her thoughts of the moment that had passed between them, lifting her head with abrupt shock. A...A visitor? Was such a thing- _even possible?_ Did such a thing happen? Were not others banned from this place? What manner of being could reach a realm beyond the skies? Rapid fire questions darted through her head, and her eyes hesitantly went to him. To her continued surprise, he had returned to eating, as if nothing had happened, as if he had not just casually threatened to break her, and as if the girl were not there waiting for his order. He did not seem to pause, still eating in that rapid manner, as if this news was of no consequence to him.

They both are watching him- her with a wary hesitation- the child with endless patience- before he responds.

"Let the bastard in."

* * *

She sat up with interest, eyes turned towards the massive doors as they parted- who- what would come through those doors? What manner of being would it be? One such as her Master, bringing with him darkness and age? And for the briefest of moments, she almost imagines-'-_ a man flows between them, so gracefully it is as if he has the wind beneath his steps, carrying him across the floor. Something sharp, and poignant cuts through the fade, dismantling the fog so thoroughly that her head rings. She stares, feeling her breath catch in her throat as his eyes findhers_...'- but she wills the dream away into nothing, smothers it in the dark of her mind.

She is staring with such fixed concentration at the doors, the anxiety of waiting and wondering making her hands draw together in her lap. She is staring with such intensity that she does not know how she misses the man-but suddenly he is there, a whisper on the wind. She blinks in sheer shock, hastily, to assure herself that he has come. _'B-But I was w-watching- when did he-?'_

Was he like Ichi and Ni? Did all in this realm possess this same ability, to come and go at will? She has not time to ponder upon it, eyes trained onto the man that only now seems to take a step towards them, wearing a gorgeous and intricate kimono the color of the skies. He is a man with a face so beautiful that for a moment she nearly mistakes him, his face and demeanor carrying with it an elegant and delicate charm almost feminine in nature. He has a long mane the color of the sea flowing behind him, and eyes the color of lightening and ice- frozen and sharp, and something cold. He gives a slight bow of introduction- in acknowledgement? Respect? It seems far too haughty for both- but when he raises his eyes she reads in those sharp eyes something deep rooted and bitter..

"Good evening to you my dear Lord Kyuubi. I see you are…as refined as always."

Her eyes dart tentatively between them, uncertain and anxious- why had her Lord brought her here, had allowed her to be present for such a meeting? And why...had he gone through so much trouble before it to rattle her if he had known this would come? She hurried to compose herself, to soothe her nerves and maintain some semblance of dignity for her Lord's sake. More than she feared the thought of being pinned beneath that dark gaze- but to embarrass him before another lord- seemed nothing short of life threatening. Even if she could nearly sense the man's distaste- the very air that he brought into the room seemed to almost taste of something poignant like hatred. He did not bring him with blackness, darkness as with her Master's first meeting- it was sharper, colder- like a night wind, carrying the scent of her fear.

Her Master if he noticed- if he cared- ignored it, still proceeding to eat without pause. "I'm in no mood for your shit Raiku." He ground out around his chopsticks, face still in his bowl. She nearly gasped aloud at this- such- such blatant disrespect! Was this man, this Raiku not a powerful Lord as well- no he must be, she could feel it, could feel him as well- it was not a black hand of fear and loathing clutching her throat, it did not have her crippled with her own fear- but it was more dangerous because it was not as pronounced. _'A knife.'_ she thought with a gulp, feeling weak. _'It feels like there is a knife at my throat.'_

"Such uncouth language." he replies easily, his words still echoing with that same haughty arrogance. "But I suppose I did not expect much from a flee ridden mongrel such as yourself." He stated quietly, and her eyes shot to his in utter disbelief- such a thing! To say such a thing!

- and she feels it creeping over her- her entire body shudders- a feeling like being cloaked in shadow, as if the very dark of the room were squirming and writhing around her and somewhere- in the distance of her mind there is a black howl of air dipped suddenly, growing electric. She did not imagine it- it permeated the air and the man called 'Raiku' smiled a quiet, dangerous smile made of porcelain fangs. She could see her Lord's hackle's rise and the slits that stared over the rim of his bowl seemed to burn blood red- did she imagine it? Did she dream it?- the very air growing tense- the feeling of barely restrained power. She could not see his face- but the dark did it for him- _was she dreaming? Or was she awake?_- Or was the darkness still behind him, smiling a wicked grin of nightmare and fangs? She sat back in her chair, feeling faint.

"I'm sorry-"-he added with a chuckle, "Did I forget? Is it your sixth century anniversary already? Because I can always give you back those wings I tore from you."

He laughed at this- _how he laughed_- as if it were a joke, a game- as if they were friends, comrades. Raiku's smile twitched, and that impassive, beautiful face became one of condescending disgust. "Fate was on your side on that occasion, My 'Lord' "- did she imagine the bitterness, the mockery? No- his eyes- there was such loathing in his eyes!-"-And I do try not to make a habit of bickering with ill bred filth."

"Not that's funny," And that black grin behind him grew as he set down the bowl silently,red beneath the mask- she was seeing red- eyes proud and filled with an inhuman mirth. "Those were the exact words you said when I took your arm." His face flushed, and for the first time she noticed the beautiful delicate sleeve, hanging emptily by his side. She cannot speak- she dare not come between them, in this moment feeling so insignificant, so overwhelmed that she dare not.

"Insolent whelp! It is beneath me to argue with you!" The man called Raiku snapped- he was fuming- angry- But her lord waved away his comment with a wave of his claws.

"Then quit wasting my time, before you start a battle you are in no position to finish." Was her lord really such a man, speaking with such careless arrogance? How abruptly he dismissed the man before him, as if he could not sense the danger emanating from his form- but she could feel it- could feel that murmuring thrum of the darkness at her side- and the electric air of the man on the other. And she was caught between them, two energies so impossibly powerful that she felt beyond overwhelmed. Why had he brought her here, why had he allowed her to be apart of this? She could barely speak, to think! So why?

Raiku's gaze was tight- growing tighter still- the air around him was almost snapping with his displeasure, as if he would have liked nothing better than to tear her Master to shreds.

"Hmph! You are of no concern to me. I have only come because the winds tell me that Hanahime has finally awakened. I have come to see her for myself."

She gasps, swallowing the sound immediately lest she draw unwanted attention to herself, her eyes locked onto the man. Hanahime- that was her! He had come to see her! But why? For what reason? What business did this man have with her? Was this- was this allowed? Her eyes darted back to her Lord- but he did not even spare her a moment nor a glance- had not since the man had entered the room. What was she expected to do? Was it not rude to be seated before the man without giving him some form of acknowledgement? Was she even permitted to speak? The man himself, Lord Raiku- had not even spared her a glance once he had entered, and yet- Her master speaks for her, cutting through her thoughts.

"Oh really?" Casually, as if with a smile."All of those centuries and yet you still don't know when to keep your snout out of other people's business?"

She turned back to the man, giving him an apologetic stare. The abrupt dismissal of her Lord seemed to convey that such a thing wold not be permitted. But who...was this man? She looked him over carefully, earnestly. Did she...know him? Was he some connection to her past? However Raiku's words coldly cut down the sentiment, his sharp eyes narrowing even further.

"You mistake my intentions. I am merely performing my duty. You may have masked her presence, but you cannot mask her scent. You cannot hide her from me. I know she is here."

She blanched at this admittance, for the fist time truly understanding some of the strange sequence of events that had transpired thus far. _'He…he can't see me!'_ she realized, her eyes darting from her lord and back. That was why he had not acknowledged her! Her Lord- he was masking her presence somehow? Rapid fire, for the first time she understood- immediately her hand drew near to the charm at her throat. _'Or is this...is this is why he told me to wear it? Is this...helping to hide me...?' _

But her Master scoffs aloud, clicking his teeth. "Oh?" Sharper, as if he had snapped his jaws. "-And what are you going to do about it?"

She can feel that the man is rapidly loosing his patience, his voice growing sharp as he also replies a snap of his fangs.

"Such impertinence! You know as well as I that mortals are forbidden from entering this realm. Even now I can hardly bear the stench of her mortality. Let us see the beloved princess that has been such a bane to my existence- Let us see the child whom you fought for so desperately!"

What was he saying? What did he mean? What- was going on? She struggled to understand, confused and disoriented. But the bite of her Master in return is quick, sharp- the darkness at his side seems to grin with him, for him- it is growing behind him, seeming to envelop him in a shroud of shadow and black.

"You dare give me orders? _**You forget your place Raiku**__-_ " He grounds out dangerously, with pleasure- "-specifically the part of the story where I-" she misses the remainder of the words- his voice seems to drop, to murmur them in a language she cannot understand.

_'What?'_ she thought, eyes darting between them, struggling to keep up, to understand. There is a sound like thunder, like lightening- for a moment the room grows bright- it is lightening!- it is a strange and violent wind whipping violently around the man's form from the force of his rage, his eyes burning with an icy coldness that spoke of death. Electricity snaps around his form like a living, tangible thing, making the dark of the chamber grow bright as day, so suddenly that her eyes burn, spots rupturing her vision.

"You would do well to mind that insolent tongue," He states dangerously, hatefully, " -less I relieve you of it!"

The wind- it is sharp and cold- it hurts- it feels as if it is slicing her, as if it is taking the air from her lungs- she is trembling, suffocating- she can't breathe- but her Master leaps from his chair, jumping on the table in one smooth motion. The change is immediate- suddenly she is enshrouded, protected by that black beast- _she can see it, she can see it!_- shielding her- she can breathe again and she draws in gasping breaths, her chest shuddering. '_What- w-what is happening?' _she thinks fearfully- as her Master rose a clawed hand, ominously cracking his knuckles. The dark- the dark is smiling,snarling- shuddering with anticipation over her, as if filled with a wild, animalistic pleasure- **_'To shreds! Tear him to shreds!'_**- her head- it pounds, it hurts- it- it is so frightening that she is stunned, locked in fear. She clutches weakly at the charm, clutching it so tightly at her chest her knuckles are ashen.

_**"You dare challenge me Dragon? Your sky lightening against my hellfire? I wonder which one will win?"**_-Laughing, he is laughing! _**"Or shall I answer that for you?" **_Such a heartless, wild sound! _**"Which limb shall I take this time?"**_

Her eyes are wide, her palms sweaty, skin pale from fright- again is the feeling, again- crippled beyond the point of weakness, so frightened that it reaches the point of pain. The darkness- this darkness- she cannot- it has no end, it is holding her- _to protect?- to smother?_- she can't breathe, her head growing faint, the world beginning to swim as she is swept away, torn between the laughter of the black and the cold of the wind. Her hand is on the amulet-as she struggles to fight it, this overwhelming, crushing feeling of their power, tightening around her- she wants the darkness to go away, to make this go away-_'I-I c-can't k-keep it a-away-!'-she cannot breathe_-she would do anything to keep it away- 'F_ocus,'_ - words echoing quietly in the expanse of her mind, cutting through the adrenaline fueled panic of her thoughts- _'Calm down- you have to- you must- Focus-' -_Focus?_ S_he has to - to focus?-her hand burns-

But Raiku's smile only seems to sharpen at the slight, as if the jest were of no consequence. "Are you sure that is wise My Lord Kyuubi? Your darling Hanahime is only a mortal." And suddenly he pauses, making a strange sound in his throat, the roar of the wind diminishing with an unearthly howl as all returned to tense silence. Breathless anxious- _her hand burns_-and she looks up to find that his gaze of ice and winter is on hers. She blanches at the intensity of it, rooting her to the spot, feeling her heart sink. Somehow, suddenly- he can see her. She feels her lips quiver, wanting to speak- what happened? Had the charm failed her? No- it burns hot in her palm, scorching- something- she does not know what- had broken the spell. And suddenly- she feels weak, crippled by an overpowering feeling of weariness. And now- those ice cold eyes see her. Her Master made no sudden movement, but the black of his power as well- fades away into nothing, that dark shroud around her evaporating. And there is his hand, dropping to his side, tightening into a fist, the beginnings of a growl echoing in his throat.

But Raiku ignores all of that, those cold ice eyes still pinning her to her chair. They survey her dispassionately for a moment of intense scrutiny- and then away with cold dismissal.

"Hmph. I suppose her only solace is that she is beautiful for a mortal. However were it not for that she would be worth less than nothing."

The bite is immediate, the black seeming to roar, echo with his fury. **_"Raiku!"_**-It burns! His voice burns- it is that darkness again in his words, that loathing and hatred-_**"I would have you skinned and have her wear your pelt like a coat!"**_

Weak- she feels weak again- she cannot explain it- it feels as if all of the energy has left her body- black is coming but she cannot- she must witness this through to the end-as he turns-

"Your weak blood betrays you My Lord." He bites out with equal bitterness, that same cold disgust. "You will do no such thing while she is present. Hurry and cater to your mortal wench- she is on the verge of fainting. I have seen enough." -The doors part for him, her haggard gaze catching sight of the white robed servant bowing low before him-"But you know as well as I that fate will not allow this. You will suffer well because of this My Lord, and I cannot say I am not looking forward to it." How dangerous his eyes gleam- the color of winter- and she is fading, curiously fading although she knows not why-

-But there is the voice of her Master, arrogant and proud thrown harshly at his cold back- _**"Then let them come and face me! Whether it is one god or ten- I will turn you all to ashes!"**_- and that dark- and that blackness- she is being pulled over before she can stop it- and the last words she hears before the darkness takes her are those of Raiku, murmured solemnly, with the blackest of hatred.

"Such arrogance! Does it know no bounds! And like the one that came before you- it will be your downfall My Lord!"

And then- there is-

Nothing.

* * *

When she next awakens, she finds herself returned to her chamber, lying prone on the silken sheets of her bed, starring into the canopy, the sky overhead. It is night. It seems that fainting will soon become a past time which she will no doubt Master. She rises carefully, the wound on her temple aching painfully with her disorientation and confusion. And her hand is still clutching the amulet, the metal cool beneath her fingertips now. She has been holding it so tightly that when she releases it the mark seems to almost be branded to her palm. Her eyes scan the darkness, looking for those white robed figures with a questioning gaze.

Ichi and Ni are nowhere to be seen. But there, standing before her is-

-Him.

"You remember." He states calmly, dangerously- so that she feels the hairs rise along the back of her neck, her breath catch in her throat. No light- the moon's rays illuminate her overhead, the white of her skin and the black of her hair- but he is cloaked in the shadow of the room, beyond the moon's rays. And the threat of his words-of everything she does not know- hovers between them.

"N-N-No M-My Lord I...I r-remember n-nothing-" she murmurs weakly in confusion, still struck by a strange exhaustion, a tension in her limbs. Sleep- she wants to sleep in the darkness, away from him, away from this.

"You used Chakra."He stated again, still in that same quiet murmur as before."You broke the concealment jutsu."

She stares blankly at him, not understanding- the words- chakra...justu- does she know them? And that porcelain mask alone seems to shine malevolently in the dark, the rest of his body hidden in shadow- so that it seems to float like a spirit, a ghost haunting her. The threat- of the return to slumber, to sleep, makes her blood run cold. "I-I d-don't...I d-don't know w-w-what you m-mean M-My..."

Again- he asks her- again. "Do you remember?" The threat is there-_ 'Deceive me...and you will not survive the consequences. Betray me...and you will pay the price.'_ Too much has happened in this night- too much- so that all of it seems convoluted in her mind, forming a black picture of the past, and of the present, that she does not know. Their words-all of them _'Let us see the girl whom you fought for so desperately!'_-who is she? Who is-_ 'Hanahime has awakened_-'-why was this- her fate? What became of her? Pale eyed girl who used to stutter?_ -'The more you fear, the more demons want to cause you pain.'- _Why? What was happening? Whose story was this? Hinata? Or Lady Hanahime? The flower maiden-_ 'No gift...comes without a price.' _- she can't think clearly, the force of the assault of everything, of everyone- robbing her of thought- _'You begged for this, asked for it-'_ And what price had she paid? For this gift? For- _'to forget.'_ To forget what? Who?

"N-N-No My L-Lord...I...I do n-not. I-"-the blue eyed man- so that for a moment her eyes grow wide, weak with tears, a sorrow that has no name. But it is not a lie, it is truth because she believes it so- because-"I d-do not...r-remember anything." _He isn't real. _ And who is she? Who is he, this man, this monster before her? And what- what are they together? Demon god and mortal woman he calls his own? A past of secrets- lay hidden in the corridors of her mind, hidden from her in the black of her soul, in a darkness ten years deep.

But her words are met with silence- dark and silence. "M-My L-Lord-?" she murmurs fearfully to the dark.

He is gone.

* * *

_AN: Without further delay here is the next chapter. I hope everyone enjoyed it. For the sake of plot there will be a few new additional characters making guest appearances, hope you don't mind them^^ If you remember the story of the creation of the world then you will perhaps know a little bit about Lord Raiku. And don't worry, our other dear characters from the narutoverse will appear, just hang in there! _

_In the meantime there are many questions- what does Lord Kyuubi have to hide on the other side of the garden? Maybe next time Hinata will go on a little adventure of her own- __I look forward to hearing what you guys think about everything that's happening._


	7. Fragile

_*-Fragile:_

_The Truth That Binds You_

* * *

_Sleep. It is a black, foul thing. And between the sound of cracking thunder, she is in the shadow of a dark storm, black rain falling over head. Black Rain- and she is standing in the shadow of-_

* * *

With daybreak brings the return of her strength, as well as her caretakers. She opens her eyes to find Ichi and Ni already by her bedside, awaiting her orders for the day.

"Good morning My Lady. Have you slept well?" They inquired as she nodded mechanically in reply, shifting herself free of the confines of the silken sheets. She is aware that her limbs are still transfixed by a noted stiffness she cannot explain. Nonetheless she notices how the last portion of their greeting lilts in a question, and one she knows well the answer to. She is certain she makes a sight- unkempt hair, dark shadows beneath her eyes, startling against her skin.

"Y-Yes..." She lied with some degree of difficulty, not matching their inquisitive gazes as she used her hands to delicately probe beneath the cover for the cold metal of the amulet. It seems...heavier than yesterday she thinks, as she carefully hid the small charm in her palm as she rose.

"We also trust that dinner with our Master went well?" Ichi stated casually as she began to make the bed, Ni coming around to place the kimono for the day on top of the spread. It is blue, the color of the ocean, the color of- cold ice eyes. Everything- the frightening moment they had shared, the threat of his words- the strange events- swirl in her mind. There are so many things that she wants to ask that she falters, uncertain of how to proceed.

"A-A m-man c-came..." She began with some hesitation, her stomach tightening as she remembered the look in his eyes. "L-Lord K-Kyuubi c-called h-him...Lord R-Raiku..." She murmured carefully, eyes watching them for any sign of surprise or slight.

"Yes." Ichi began, tucking the silk sheets with quick, practiced hands. "Master has been expecting his arrival for...quite some time. His only concern was that it had taken so long." She added, smoothing the numerous pillows and placing them appealingly against the headboard. _'So he had known...'_ she thought carefully, the weight of the charm still cold in her palm. He had known all along...what had given his 'gift' its importance, was that it had hidden her from the sight of another being such as he...and yet..._'Why did the charm fail? And why...did he want to conceal me?' _Also with this though come the realization that although the charm was cold in her palm, both Ichi and Ni are still able to see her- and so had the other servant from yesterday. She finds this quite curious, uncertain then of how exactly the mystical charm worked. _'Are they...'immune' then? Will the charm not work on them? Perhaps it is because...they were not the intended target?'_For now she would abandon the thought, focusing on one far more pressing.

"W-Why did he c-come? W-Why d-did L-Lord R-Raiku want t-to see m-me?" She asked, taking a small step backwards so as not to get in the way of Ichi's deft hands. She could clearly recall Lord Raiku's pointed remarks, the cold line of hate echoing in his eyes as he had disregarded her. And- the abrupt distaste with which he had greeted her Master. His words...had echoed with the force of his hatred.

"My Lady's history and origin is of...particular interest to the other beasts in this realm." Ni stated for her, with a solemn black gaze."Traditionally...it is forbidden for common mortal's to ascend. However...a...exception was made for My Lady's sake."

She absorbed this information carefully, as many aspects of the earlier confrontation began to clarify. That nail biting tension between them and their callous display of power...her Master's arrogant goading and Lord Raiku's firm dismissal. The hatred, the loathing in his eyes had been blatantly obvious. And if there were more like him...who felt as he did of her bearing...perhaps it was no wonder her Lord had hidden her from the world.

"T-Then why...why w-would they e-even a-allow such a thing?" She asked honestly. Lord Raiku had spoken of her as if she had been beneath him, as if he could not even spare a moment to hear her speak for herself, dismissing her as if she had been..._worthless._ If all felt as firmly as he did about her presence...she wondered for the briefest of moments how her Lord could possibly bear it. To go through such trouble...to put himself on the end of such scrutiny, to be the object of such distaste, and for her to be little more than a shameful secret. _'Yes.'_ She thought, feeling her throat tighten again, something solemn and discomforting making it burn. _'Perhaps...a secret so shameful that he tried to bury it for ten years...'_

"This is a realm ruled by power My Lady." Ichi stated, interrupting the bleak realization that had come with her own thoughts. "Lord Kyuubi is the strongest. By the nature of our laws the strongest make the rules. Therefore my lady was permitted."

_'Yes...'_ That power- and with something that could have been pity she remembered Lord Raiku's sleeve, empty at his side. It was a battle to which she had not borne witness, but the proof of it's outcome had been right there before her very eyes, victory evident in the laughter in her Master's voice. Such powerful beings they were- so that she did not doubt Lord Raiku's contempt, not just at her Master, but towards her. To be so weak before them, it was no wonder he felt as if his...loss had been in vain. Her very presence surely...was an affront to all that he had lost, a grim reminder that a god had fallen so that a mortal such as her could live. It was more than enough...to gain his hatred. It was more than enough...to gain his contempt and disgust. If she had asked for this- if she had begged for this- then... _'I am as much at fault...as the man who made him that way..._' And the thought echoed painfully in her mind, the burden of consequence. Because in some way perhaps..._she_ had done this. If it had been her decision, if it had been her desire then...how could one not feel guilty?

Was that why Lord Raiku had come? No, surely not- it was selfish of her to even entertain the notion that her presence was of such importance to such a godly being. His dismissal of her had solidified that fact. She...was worth less than nothing to him. She had been the excuse perhaps? But not...the reason...but there was no way to verbalize to Ichi and Ni that one moment, to speak of the intensity of his gaze, sharp as steel.

"Lord R-Raiku...d-did not s-seem to a-approve of me...nor L-Lord K-Kyuubi. H-He...I-It w-was obvious that h-he...h-hated us b-both." She finished with a sigh, failing in her attempt to convey Lord Raiku's aura, and the sharp bite of it. But more than that now, was the reminder of...her weakness. Her Lord had treated Lord Raiku as if his threats had been laughable. As if the threat of violence echoing on that cold wind...had been of no concern. And yet in the end...even she could clearly remember the last murmur of his words, hurled harshly at Lord Raiku's back.

Despite all of her Lord's goading, and his treatment of their meeting as little more than an intermission for his amusement, in the end she...had embarrassed him. By cowering so before his adversary, she had once again proven the depths of her own weakness. It was...not a comforting thought, so that her fist grows tight around the amulet. At this moment Ichi stepped in behind her, interrupting her thoughts as she motioned for her to begin to take off the beautiful kimono she had wrinkled in her sleep.

"Our Lord Kyuubi ascended by...unconventional means and circumstances, both whose mentions are forbidden. Because of that the other elder beasts...question his reign and ability. Nonetheless, the fact remains that Lord Kyuubi is not a being to be defied." Ichi stated, delicately tugging a sleeve from her shoulder. She was quick to nod in agreement. The might of his power was not one to be ignored.

"Lord Raiku was merely the first." Ni added, cold hands untying the obi at her waist. "The others...will surely come."

_'They will come.'_ She gulped harshly, swallowing the lump in her throat. There is a tight feeling of anxiety building in her chest. More like him would come- to see her. More of..._'their'_ kind. For judgement? For mockery? Or idle curiosity? Such powerful beings- would they look at her with contempt? Or pity? Frail mortal quivering before their power? **_'Little bird,'_** she thought, remembering the dark in his voice. _'How...accurate.'_ She could hear it again now, a strange feeling sitting heavy in her chest. This was...disappointment. She was disappointed...in herself. For not being stronger. Even though there had been..._nothing_ she could have done. She had long since accepted her own weakness, had understood it as a part of herself from before that had not changed. But somehow, remembering that moment...she felt sick with disgust. _'No...what I cannot bear is the thought that...Lord Raiku had been right.__ If Lord Kyuubi sacrificed so much for me...how could I let such sacrifice be in vain?' _

Regardless of how she felt about the man- if he had really done so much for her...she shook her head to clear her mind, her thoughts growing convoluted from the intensity of her emotions. She was not sure...how to feel about all of this, or how this would affect the way she looked at the man they called Master.

"He was-" She began with some degree of clarity as she remembered the legends, etched into the walls. And the sound of her Master's taunting. _'His wings...'_ "W-What is...L-Lord R-Raiku?"

Ni finishes untying the sash at her waist without pause, allowing the kimono to fall with a whisper to the floor and pool at her feet. "Lord Raiku was...the eight winged dragon."

She gulped hastily, harshly. _'Was.'_ One of the creatures of legend...the winged dragon, racing across the skies."And L-Lord Kyuubi, h-h-he-" She could not finish the words, the thought aloud. But she knows it, had heard it for herself, as if in a dream. _'For me...he had-'_

Ichi instinctively seemed to sense the question on her lips before it had left her. And she chooses this moment to avert her eyes from her naked form as she replies. "Tore his wings from him."

There is...nothing to say. The hate in those cold eyes like winter, the contempt and disgust with which he had spoke, the mockery of respect in his words- says it all for her. Her Lord's callous dismissal among the flash of lightening- and the way those eyes had looked at her. She had been weak and powerless in those eyes...worth less than nothing.

"Our Lord...can be merciful." Ni stated quietly, solemnly as she began to run a comb through the long tangled ends of her hair. "But he can also be merciless."

* * *

She reflects quietly to herself, all of the truths that she has come to know. She is Hinata. She is mortal, in a land of gods...of beings with frightful power. She is from the world below. And she has...been sleeping for a very long time. She does not know...why she has been sleeping. And somehow in the echoes of the past, from the world below- she was taken. No...she had...chosen this. To be kept woman to a demon god. And Lord Kyuubi-

She paused, struggling to wrap her mind around it, to understand. The only signs of his favor had revealed itself in his 'gifts'. Every day there was a new kimono, as beautiful and priceless as if it had been woven for a goddess. Well fed, pampered, servants at her side every moment to adhere to her desires. And the strange amulet, tucked close to her breast. Meant to protect her? To hide her? But why, if there was no danger? Why go to such effort if there was no threat to her safety? Beyond that- _'What is it you want?'_ - she wanted nothing but...the truth...but even that seemed beyond her grasp. _'Don't damage your beautiful skin,'_ and yet there was the black ringing her ankle, and that frightening echo of power, of strength, and the sound of his laughter. The words..._'no gift comes without its price.'_ And what had she paid for such peace? What had she paid for such finery? What had she paid for this solitude? This life of contemplation and reflection on all that she did not know?

But more important than those- Lord Kyuubi had fought them-creatures as powerful as gods- to allow her admittance into this realm. He had fought them for her right to _'ascend'_. After her bath, clean and clothed she wandered the halls, pale eyes keenly scouring the walls to find them. It takes time she is not certain passes, concentration and vigilance to pick the legends from the men, and to find their places in the history of the world below.

There is the one winged angel, peering curiously down through the clouds onto the world below. The two winged horse, dashing through a ephemeral forest, racing toward the stars. The four winged serpent, devouring its own tail. The six winged phoenix, blazing a trail of fire and smoke across the night. The eight winged dragon winding up the base of the tree of the world, peering down at her with cold stone eyes.

"S-Some...are m-missing." She murmured aloud, still carefully examining the figures carved in stone. Despite all of the time she had spent searching, she had yet to find the slightest trace of the other winged beasts. Ichi stands with endless patience by her side, watching blankly as she counted carefully in her head. _'Three...Five...Seven and Nine...they're not here...'_ "In order to ascend with you, Lord Kyuubi fought a horrific battle in order to gain your admittance." Ichi stated, dark eyes following the path of her pale hands, stark against the stone. "That battle...was how our Lord earned his title as the strongest."

"A night of black skies and red moon." Ichi continued carefully, black eyes darker still with remembrance. And at the words, somewhere deep inside of her heart- there is a strange pulse, a quiver. _'Red.'_ She thought again with a shudder, the only constant horror that seemed to plague her thoughts. There is some...terrible memory, called to mind by the mere thought of_ red_- the color of blood and nightmare- of sin. Sick- she feels sick again, the lulling of Ichi's somber voice doing nothing to restore her calm. Instead...there is a strange anxiety building.

"For ten days and nights he fought them. Before his might, the three winged and five winged beast fled into the skies, never to be seen again. The seven winged serpent was slain. Lord Raiku, the eight winged dragon, fought ferociously and lost his arm and wings. The other winged beasts...quickly admitted their defeat."

Black skies, red moon- her head, her temples begin to pound, vision wavering. There is a crash of lightening, sharp in her ears. The heat of flame, singing the ends of her hair. The sharp bite of the wind against her bare skin. Cheeks, wet with tears. Enough sorrow in her heart to drown the whole world. And the black- of being in that shadow. The shadow of-

"And on the tenth day..." Ni murmured, those black eyes still gazing down the length of the hall, into the shadows lurking there. And she is caught between worlds, between the edge of a faded memory and the beginnings of a nightmare. _**'Let it go.' **_Echoes powerfully, harshly, in her head. To forget- but it has begun- she is spiraling down some rabbit hole, into some black pit without end."...he fought the nine winged beast..." Ichi's eyes drifted to her visage for a moment, solitary and forlorn, still staring blankly into the depths of space- before they turned back to her mistress. "...Lord Kyuubi was once more powerful than he was now."

"M-More...powerful?" She thought with abrupt horror, not even daring to imagine it, murmured with some strange lingering air of shadow looming in her voice. She is speaking- and yet she does not_ feel_ it. She feels- scorching flames- there is the crack of lightening, illuminating the hall- and she is caught- drowning in a vision with her eyes wide open.

'"The Kyuubi is one of the most powerful legendary beasts, with an unrivaled wealth of chakra at his disposal."

Her head- what is this, echoing within the confines of her mind? What is this strange feeling, crippling her? But beyond all that- is the dark, growling in her ear, making her wince as she clutched at her temples, brows furrowing in pain. _**'Let it go.' **'No- n-not yet-'_ she thought almost feverishly, fighting the tide, the black threatening to sweep the memories back into the dark of her mind, to smother what remained of her strength, her will. Coaxing her into unconsciousness, into sleep.

"To ascend is to be reborn anew- so then he was at his strongest. But in this battle...our Lord Kyuubi lost his ninth and most coveted tail, the tail of immortality. And the nine winged beast- he banished from the skies back to the earth, to never ascend again."

_'The Tail Of Immortality...'_ Fighting to resurface, to focus through the echo of memory, the reminder of some pain beyond her ability to bear. Those words- fighting to focus through the black, muddling the flow of her thoughts and disassembling her from the inside._ Focus_- those words- the black- at her ear- _What...did they mean?_ Lord Kyuubi...was he...mortal like her now? _The sound_- the snap of bone, the flash of fangs- makes her head ring- she can see a comet, racing across a black sky to the earth, the reminder- of a lonely fate. To have wings but be unable to fly- to be forever kept from the skies you loved, the wind in your wings. It was a cruel fate for a creature of flight. A fate...cruel enough for vengeance. For **_'Let it go Hanahime.'_ **echoing so intensely in her head that it seems to ring, to make the very air she breathes tremble in her lungs. Gritting her teeth- their black eyes did not seem to notice her pain, the sweat on her brow, the tightening of her fists- the tremble of the fingertips against the wound, throbbing beneath her skin. _'Fight it,'_ something whispered, cutting through the black. _'Fight him.'_

"W-What b-became of the n-nine w-w-winged b-beast?" Murmured with strength she did not feel, hiding the gasp of her breath beneath her words. Ni- is watching her now, carefully assessing the rapid paling of her skin, the increasing prominence of the shadows darkening beneath her eyes. But Ichi has turned her eyes- and is somewhere far away.

"We do not know his fate- but we have heard the other fox servants speak of the others. There are...rumors that the tailed beasts were sealed by mortals into the bodies of men. But we...do not know this for certain. While it is true that mortals have grown more powerful as their knowledge of chakra has expanded, to be able to contain such a powerful being without consequence is...doubtful. And the nine winged beast is...beyond such containment."

Consequence- a reminder echoing once more in her head- and still- _still_ she feels as if she is floundering in open water, as if-

"Surely you understand my lady- the price of sealing such a being, infinite in power and wisdom- in a vessel that cannot possibly contain it. A river... cannot fit into a broken earthen pot."

"Was such a thing..." Another sharp pain, cutting through the haze, the sound- of children- screaming- so that she gasps aloud, smothering the sound in a sharp intake of breath- "d-done?"

"Yes My Lady." Ichi speaks, but it is Ni who is still watching her, black eyes deep like pits. "Below the mortals divide themselves and fight for territory, honor and prestige on behalf of their homelands- peace is fleeting, and a time of great turbulence and war is brewing. There is...a darkness, threatening to consume the land. The world of mortals- has fallen off the course of fate."

She pondered over the words through the exhausting haze carefully, as any news, any tales of the world below could not be ignored. She had thought long and hard about the world beneath her feet, had slept and dreamed of the villages hidden and scattered across the land. The land from which she had been taken, the world she had left behind. But this news...was unsettling, making her swallow harshly in her throat. Still that feeling- that strange feeling-of an echo of memory-_ 'A time of...great turbulence...and war.'_ She thought sadly, not remembering the like but somehow feeling as if- she could taste something in her mouth again, poignant and bitter. Sadness? Regret? Pity?- although she know not from whence it has come or why it persisted. The black is silent and sullen in her mind, the black of its power still echoing in her thoughts. **_'Hanahime.'_ **The harsh reminder, the threat- _"Do you remember?"_ she thinks, of his words murmured coldly in the dark of her room. And the black in her mind is waiting to drag her back under, to make her forget.

And her heart- feels as if it is sinking in her chest, as if it is made of stone. _'Many will die.'_ She thinks, remembering the history of war etched into the wall before her, remembering the piles of the slain etched in stone. Remembering-

"And now-" Ni added, drawing her back from the black of her thoughts, from the strange waking nightmare of her thoughts. There is something strange echoing in those deep black pits, something undefinable as she speaks. "Who is to say how this world shall end?"

She does not like how the words echo in the empty hall, amplified in the silence. She does not like how they echo in her mind. _Breathe_- she tells herself- but she finds she is thinking of that village, hidden in the leaves- and how it would look overtaken by flames. "Y-You said...t-taken off the c-course of f-fate?" She repeats, not liking the ominous foreboding alluded in the words, the hopelessness she feels as she says them aloud, and the black in her mind-

"Yes My Lady." Ichi states, motioning for her to turn her gaze back down the hall. To the man- standing in the shadow of the great beast. But she does not see the shadow, does not see the figure of the hero before it. She sees-

"Fate has been kind to mortals My Lady...and like the hero in the shadow of the ten tailed beast, a new savior is born to protect the course of fate and assure the continuation of this world." She states quietly, allowing her to once more analyze the image there. The beast is massive, formless- it towers as large as a mountain, blocking out the grinning moon, the skies black and turbulent. But the man- stands before it, his back straight, his feet firmly planted in the earth. _'And he...is not afraid...'_ she thinks, remembering the echoes of a dream.

"But soon..."-and here...Ichi's eyes grew cold-"-mortals grew to spite fate-"

_["They...blamed it for their misfortune."] He murmured solemnly to her. ["They wanted to reclaim their destiny, they wanted...to reclaim the control they had lost. In the end...all they wanted was to grab the future with their own hands. They-" ]-_her head whips around violently, pale eyes searching the depths of the hall- _'Who?'_- but no one is there, the only voice still murmuring aloud that of Ni as she joined in the telling of a truth she did not want to know. Her skin is clammy, her teeth aching from the urge to chatter, as if chilled by a cold winter wind.

"...In their arrogance...they committed a great sin. And they...have not been forgiven. They have...chosen their own destiny, and it will lead to their ruin." _'Red.'_ She thinks, feeling faint, her head muffled by black so that she reaches out a hand to lean heavily against the wall, feeling her head begin to ring painfully. It is growing, doubling- a headache- black- the sound- but she wills it away into nothing, pushes it away with more strength then she knows she has.

"H-How..." There are the words again, the pale eyed ghost again, lingering in her thoughts, haunting her shadow-"-H-How d-did they s-spite fate?"

Ichi and Ni stare at each other for a moment and something flickers between them- an understanding that transcends words or feelings. And together they turn to her, and speak.

"They killed the savior that had been born to protect them."

The sound- is there a child crying, echoing in her head? Or is that the sound of her, breaking into pieces?

"And without him...there is no one to right the path of fate, to thwart the onslaught of evil that approaches and lead them once more into an era of peace. He-"

And she is swept away beneath some black tide she cannot place, overcome again by a feeling so indescribable that she is frozen to the spot, pale eyes staring blankly into nothing. Faint- weak- _she can't breathe_- but still the sound of the child, the crying child, won't stop, it won't- They are speaking but she can no longer hear them, all she hears in her head is- _His smile, gentle in its agony. ["And this is the world you left behind."]_ But she cannot look- even though she knows it is him, cannot turn her head even though she can feel the warmth wafting from his body, the scent of wind and sea- and the ghost of his smile, as he passes through her shadow. And he carries with him a sorrow she has always known- because it is her own-

**_"My Lady-!"_** She blinks harshly as she abruptly comes back to herself, surprised to find her gaze staring up into the high expanses of the arched ceiling, their cold arms encircling her back. Twin pairs of black- and two pale faces framed by dark hair the color of ink.

"I-I-" she flounders, confused and disoriented.

"My Lady you nearly fainted." Ichi tells her carefully, as they help her rise. She staggers upright with their assistance, their cold hands doing much to startle her back to her senses, as she placed another hand on her damp forehead, feeling her temples throb in response beneath her fingertips.

"My Lady?" Ichi questions her again, concerned. But she gives her a weak smile, still feeling faint. "I-I'm f-fine...I-It was n-nothing..." And it is gone- that strange feeling, the murmur of the dark in her head- the black of memory, of nightmare robbing her of strength. There is only the silence and comfort of her own thoughts, unfettered and clear.

But Ni is the one who watches her with keen black eyes as Ichi leads her back to her chamber, her pale arm thrown around her cold shoulders, a cold hand encircling her waist. And there is an echo of a question there, that does not leave her lips. _'What did you see My Lady? Who...did you see?'_ But she cannot answer, although she can feel the reply on her tongue. Many things- and nothing. But beyond all that- _'I saw...Him. But this time-'_ There had been someone else with him. There had been...a pale eyed ghost with him. But she says nothing, a timid smile on her lips as she tells them she is fine- but this time she is certain that Ni knows she is lying.

* * *

That night she wakes with the stars, long after the moon has risen. It is a grinning moon overhead, pale and forlorn in the black expanse of the sky. Ichi and Ni have long since bid her farewell and goodnight, departed to their other strange nightly duties. She slowly frees herself from the sheets, placing her bare feet on the cold floor with a marked shiver. There is a chill lingering in her room, a grim reminder that this...is dangerous. Carefully she creeps towards the door, crossing the expanse of the wide chamber with her heart thrumming in her chest. _Breathe,_ she tells herself. _Breathe._ And the amulet is there, tight in her palm. She does not know why she clutches it to her chest as if it would protect her, only that the knuckles that grasp it are white as snow and cold as ice.

She cracks open the wide doors of the chamber a hairs breath, and they smoothly part without sound or creak. For a moment more she lingers there, hesitant and anxious- but white hands do not pry it further apart with questions, and black eyes are not there as she peers into the dark of the hall. It is as silent and cold as an enclosed tomb, ruptured only by her hastily drawn breath. She takes a breath for a moment as she steps into the hall, calming her thoughts as she slowly closed the door behind her. She breathes in, and releases. _The Blue Eyed Man_- she thinks, remembering how she had reached for his open hand. And like a shadow, she disappears into the gloom of the night.

* * *

She is not certain how long she wanders, walking on silent and wary footsteps, smothering her breath in her throat. She is not certain where she is going as she does not know the path she treads. But without the steadfast tread of her caretakers to guide her, her path is undeterred. At night, the beauty of the garden seems more sublime, the wind whispering like a lover along the flower petals, their shadows dancing on the path beneath the light of the moon. Silken petals seem to glow from within, and for a moment again- she almost imagines she can hear the sweet lilt of a tune. She skulks in their shadows, picking her way delicately through the foliage, mindful of her bare feet. She does not think of his wrath should he discover her here- she does not think of that black hand, holding her back- she thinks only of the path she had torn through the undergrowth, reaching for _his_ hand.

_'There...he was taking me there...' _She thought carefully to herself, the dark and gloom of the overgrown path filled, it seemed, with warning. She does not think of the anxiety that makes her heart tremble, nor does she think of the fear she feels of capture...and the punishment. All she thinks of is _Blue Eyes_...and what it was he had been trying to show her. She treads slowly through the night, her feeble eyesight of little assistance to her in the dark. Somehow she finds herself thinking that once such a thing...would have been of no consequence. There is a strange feeling that hits her as she tries to see into the gloom, a strange feeling of frustration, of _'this...used to be e-easy...'_- but she does not understand it.

As she stumbles out of the reach of the over-sized garden, in the dark she comes face to face with a looming structure, hard to distinguish in the night. She sees the dull glow of stone, of columns reaching overhead, and the dark of a wide open hall behind them. It looks like...some kind of amphitheater? Some strange meeting ground? She is not certain where this path will take her, but she struggles to gather her wits as she slowly approached, cautious and anxious.

As she draws nearer she finds that it is a wide open space ringed by towering white columns, the center bathed in the glow of night, directly illuminated by the moon's rays directly over head. The columns ringing the circle are marked like the walls-telling a story that she has no time to decipher. She approaches the ring of moonlight illuminating the center, to find with surprise that even below her feet the story continues, eyes carefully tracing over the strange symbols below.

_'W-What...are these?' _She thinks, searching the low reservoir that is her memory for any passing sign of recognition, but as always she comes up short. She studies the symbols carefully etched into the white stone beneath her- there is a stone ring, inlaid with interconnected lines that form a ten pointed star. Within the star are more circles, inlaid with symbols all the way to the center. It is a convoluted assortment of shapes and swirls, lines and dashes and otherwise serves as nothing more than to deepen her confusion. She can make neither hide nor tail of them as she surveys the markings, uncertain of how to begin to interpret the strange tongue written out before her. _'What...do t-these mean?'_

_["It is the curse that binds him. The reminder...of his 'fate.' Of the price he paid..."]_

She feels her heart lurch in her chest, before it began to sputter, pounding erratically so that for a moment her vision swims, rooted to the symbols at her feet. _She can't breathe-_everything within her rolls and heaves so that she feels as if she is sinking, drowning in a moment so sublime that everything and nothing dies on her lips. For a moment she is rendered immobile, frozen- until she slowly raises her eyes.

And at the center of the circle, illuminated by the glow of the moon, is a vision in white. It is...him. The Blue Eyed Man. Hair the gold of kings, eyes the blue of sky, lit from within with child-like exuberance. The rugged skin reflects a life filled with warmth beneath the glow of a midday sun. The face that seems as if it wants to burst into laughter, the lips as if they want to break out into a grin. But on them now is a smile both fleeting and forlorn. Her words choke in her throat. She is torn from the desire to run towards him, to hurl herself in his arms and weep at his feet. Her head swims from the feeling of blood rushing to her cheeks, and yet seems to grow cold in her veins. Her vision darkens, brightens- clears and clouds. Black-_she is going to faint-_ but in the dark of her rapidly diminishing confidence springs a will she has not yet been able to acknowledge. It is silent and comforting as it takes her hand, a small voice murmuring in her ear. _'Not yet.' _The voice murmurs, as the black curtain of unconsciousness fades, _'You must not give in.'_

"W-W-Who a-a-a-are y-you?" She whispers breathlessly, still feeling as if she is choking on her own sorrow, as the reminder of how those words had broken him rise again to the surface. _"Do you remember me?" _He had asked of her then, as if his very survival had depended on the words...and how the spark in those eyes had faded, when she had murmured that she did not. But now blue eyes neither wavered nor crumbled, clear as a cloudless sky. He watches her for an impossibly long moment in silence- before his face stretched into a smile as bright as the sun, banishing the sorrow ghosting along the lines of it. Something seems to pulse within her, to burst to light, to warmth- she wants to reach for his hand again, to feel it in her own. She wants-

_["Hey Hinata,"] _he calls, his voice as boisterous as a child's. _[__"You never did manage to catch me."]_ And as suddenly as the words leave his lips he turns, and quick as lightening, like a white specter he vanishes into the gloom of the abyss.

She feels sick, sick with a feeling so deeply rooted in agony that for a moment she nearly falls to her knees. For a moment the black comes so close to taking her that she nearly succumbs. But all of that she pushes away, she holds away- as suddenly every fiber of her being began to call his name.

**_"N-N-Naruto!"_ **She nearly screams, nearly falling on her feet, adrenaline and a sense of urgency propelling her forward. _**"Naruto!"** _She screams again, louder, her heart throbbing in her chest, drawing ragged breaths just so she could hurl his name again into the dark of the empty. She is crying as she dashes after him, the echo of his laughter ringing in the empty halls that she finds beyond the circle, the sound of her bare feet slapping against the porcelain floor beneath her. _'Don't leave me again!' _she is thinking, as she throws the words after his white form, vanishing into the dark, _'Please don't leave me again!'_, chasing the sight of that golden head, listening for the echo of his laughter. She does not know how long she blindly chases his shadow, her vision clouded with tears. It is a long winding path they make, through the stone cold halls, filled with sharp turns and breathless sprints down long halls. There are moments when she feels as if her lungs will burst in her chest, her legs trembling from such intensive use, but she grits her teeth and uses all of her strength to follow him.

She is certain- _she is certain_- that if she does not catch him- that some horrible fate would befall them both. She does not know how she knows it, how the feeling finds her through the gasp of her breath and the sweat on her brow, but dread sits heavy in her throat, fear echoing in every beat of her footsteps. _'Don't lose him.' _The pale eyed ghost seems to murmur solemnly in her ears, '_You cannot lose him again...'_

His white shadow has darted through a door on the hall before she has time to notice it, and she hurriedly pulls up short, her momentum nearly sending her reeling to the floor. She pauses before the black doors to catch her breath, breathing heavily as her entire body tenses with adrenaline. She can hear her heart pounding with such exertion in her chest it feels as if it is about to break through the fragile bones encircling it, her blood roaring painfully in her ears.

_'His name. I-I remembered his name. I...knew him, had known him. He had been...'_ But she cannot finish the thought as she cautiously pushes open the door, searching the room within with pale haggard eyes. She is surprised by the darkness she finds, struggling to calm her breathing as she enters the chamber in an attempt to steel her nerves.

"N-Naruto..." _'His name.' _She wants to say everything, she wants to say nothing as she stumbles through the black of the chamber. So much comes to her lips that it falters there, on the cusp of her subconscious. She remembers- the warmth of his hand, the gentle brush of the kiss against her hand. And even though he had smiled, even though he was laughing- the cold edge of sorrow hidden in the sound, lurking beneath the smile.

"Y-Y-You...know m-me." She nearly whispers, the truth seeming to choke in the air around her, to hover their on her lips. Like the man who hid his face from her, the lord who kept the truth from her- she had felt it from the very moment she had awoken. The Blue Eyed Man...had said it himself. "Y-You s-said...t-that I-I-" [_'I am the one who loves you more than life itself, in this world or the next.']_ "W-Who...a-am I?" She asks, but the dark seems to swallow her words. She can not make out distinct shapes in the dark, but this room seemed to house strange shadows and visions, as if that alone had been enough to call forth the man from her past.

"P-P-Please...N-Naruto." Laughter- she could remember the sound of his laughter, clear as a bell across a flower filled field. '_Smile for me,'_ she thinks again, nearly choking on tears she does not know linger there on her cheeks. _'You always smiled for me.' _"N-Naruto..."

She whispered quietly, uneasy at the silence, the gloom. He- does not answer her- or maybe- he cannot answer her. Was she- dreaming again? Again- had he been just a ghost, a vision? No, that cannot be- she doesn't not want to believe it, she can't believe it- again, she calls his name with desperation, with longing. "Naruto..." She begins again, her throat tight, raw- the name catches on her tongue- because she wants to sob, to weep. And still something permeates the air within the room, a warning lingering around her, so even the black of the shadows around her seem to taunt her in her confusion. But she cannot leave without finishing this, without knowing, without _something._

In this moment she feels it, on the edge of something important- balancing on a moment so poignant that no matter what transpired here- she knew she would be changed forever. The Blue Eyed Man- her Lord- both held a key to her past, and her very future was in the palms of their hands.

It is during this time that a cloud passes from over the moon, the bright of the moon's rays illuminating a shadow before a glass window. There- in a glass case- is a flower blooming. She pauses abruptly, struck with wonder at the visage before her. It does not possess the serene beauty of the garden flowers, but is a series of wicked black stalks, hooked with ragged thorns. The blooming petals so massive that the flower seems to sag beneath its own weight- petals and stalks black as pitch- but it is the center that startles her- a blood red center hinged with gold. She stares transfixed, at the surreal flower, and again there is a feeling. A feeling of dread, of horror- a murmur of a nightmare. _'Red.' _And the feeling- of the pale eyed ghost, skulking away into the dark of her mind. _'You must not...'_ But as if she has been caught in a web, a spell, transfixed- and there is something black, a foul whisper- and the sharp bite of the dark that had followed in the shadow of her lord. And before she can stop herself, before the pale eyed ghost can stop her- she is walking towards the flower-

She has not taken a full step before something cold and sharp is against her neck. Immediately she freezes in her place, falling back to herself with a swift intake of breath. Her entire body seems to tense, growing as cold as the steel against her pulse, biting into the delicate skin of her throat. Immediately her heart leaps in her chest, pounding so violently within her that she feels as if she is going to faint dead away. Disoriented, she struggled to regain her bearings, and to understand the strange sequence of events that had just transpired. And with a sinking feeling of despair she realizes that it is a knife at her throat.

And there is a cold hand, holding her still. "Those who trespass here..." the voice murmurs, as cold and unforgiving as stone, "Will not be forgiven."

* * *

_AN: I apologize for the delay, so here is a extra long chapter as a thanks for waiting, hope you enjoyed it. I will hopefully be returning to biweekly updates soon. Some more mysteries here- mentions of a curse, a flower, and a ghost. I apologize for any mistakes, when I'm proofing sometimes I overlook a whole lot of stuff. Please read and review to let me know what you think, reviews keep my bed warm at night._


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